Week 1

So far Thyme, Basil, Mint, and Salt have been pretty uneventful. I have checked on them around the same time every day. I check them around 8, 3, and then at 10. They seem to be the most busy in the afternoon time. I have also noticed that they like to snuggle with each other occasionally. When I checked them on Thursday morning, Friday afternoon, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday evening they were all bunched up together up against the container. I have also noticed them eating in the evening time. I have left the lid off of the container to see if they would become more active but when the lid is off they like to hide in the oatmeal. I also set them next to a cranberry scented candle that was lit to see if this would have an effect on their mood, but they did not act any differently. I will try something more exciting next time.

The "Critters" Arrive!

I will start off by introducing myself. My name is Theresa and am in college to become a teacher, a middle school teacher to be exact, and hopefully a science teacher. Well, today in my science methods class we received our "critters," and from what I can tell I will hypothesize that this little creepy "critters" are meal worms. What gives me this impression? Well, I googled it of course, and I saw some pictures of their friends and family.

Above is Salt, he is 1 1/16" long. He is the average one of the bunch.

Since this will be at least a six week exploration I think it is important to name these critters so that we can get to know each one. There are four and their names are Salt, Basil, Mint, and Thyme. I will post pictures and inform you of who is who. I have already taken meaurements and Salt is 1 1/16", Basil is 1 1/8" long, Mint is 1 1/4" long, and Thyme is 1" long. They are living in a plastic cool whip container that is filled with 1 cup of oatmeal, and currently has 2 slices of apple inside. I have also counted the number of sections on Salt, Basil, Mint and Thyme, and thought that maybe the bigger worms would have more sections, but they all have 13 sections. I think that is pretty cool. I wonder if they will have 13 sections their entire life or if they will grow new sections as they get older? This will be a question that will be answered over the course of this observation. If anyone out there has questions they would liked answered let me know, and Salt, Basil, Mint, and Thyme will be happy to help.

Below is Basil. She is a little camera shy. Basil kept trying to crawl under the oatmeal while I was trying to take her picture.

So far I have noticed that all four of them love to burrow into the oatmeal, and do not really like to come out into the light unless they are trying to eat. They all seem to like the apples, but what choice do they have. I will try a new food soon, but maybe I can have some suggesstions on what people would like to see happen. I will be experimenting with Salt, Basil, Mint, and Thyme, but no harm will come to them from these experiments. These trials will be done solely to ascertain their likes and dislikes and get to know them as worms. If anyone has any suggesstions please let me know.

To the left is Mint. He is 1 1/4" long, and is the fattest of the bunch.

Below is Thyme. She measures 1", and is the thinnest of the group.

I look forward to this observation and getting to know my new friends Salt, Basil, Mint, and Thyme better. Until next time, remember to take good care of your animals.