Party Food... Worm Sandwiches
You will need:
* hot dogs
* hamburger buns
What to do:
1. Cut the hot dogs into thin slices, lengthwise.
2. Score the edges, about three cuts per slice
3. Boil or microwave the "worms" until the slices curl.
4. Arrange three or four worms on a bun.
There are 4,400 species of worms - 2,700 different kinds of earthworms to be exact. Yes they may be slimy and wriggly but there’s a whole lot more to worms than you might realise. For instance - did you know a worm has five hearts? Or that it has a mouth but it doesn’t have any teeth? It pushes its throat out of its mouth to grab leaves. Then it makes the food nice and wet with saliva and pushes it down to the gizzard where the work happens. It uses any stones that are swallowed and the strong muscles of the gizzard to grind up the leaves. These muscles work almost like teeth. After that anything that is not digested will pass out as waste or castings.
Worms work like underground farmers turning the soil over like a plough. They tunnel through soil, chewing up fallen leaves and animal remains and pushing heavy stones. This aerates the soil. Their poo, called castings, acts as a fertiliser containing the recycled nutrients from the debris they ate. Without the help of worms, every plant and animal that died and fell to the ground would stay right where it fell.
But why so slimy? Well the mucous keeps them moist so they can breathe through their skin!
According to Darwin "It may be doubted whether there are many other animals in the world which have played so important a part in the history of the world...."
Check out http://yucky.kids.discovery.com/ for more.
