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Title
In One End, Out the Other

Broad Question
Does the amount of worms affect the speed of food decomposing?

Specific Question
Would more or less worms have an affect on decomposing 10 grams of orange peels?

Hypothesis
It is hypothesized that the more worms in a given amount of soil will affect how fast 10 grams of orange peels will decompose. It is predicted that the peels will digress faster than the containers with less or no worms. This hypothesis is based upon prior knowledge about worms and composting.

Independent Variable:
Amount of Worms

Dependent Variable:
Mass of peels

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:
Amount of soil in each container Amount of water used to moisten the soil in each box Amount of Newspaper in each container Size of Containers

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation
mass- the amount of stuff that makes something decompose- to rot, putrify environment- the air, water, minerals, organisms, and all other external factors surrounding and affecting a given organism at any time

General Plan
**In this experiment it will be determined if the amount of worms in a given space affects the speed of orange peels decomposing over time. The peels will be massed ahead of time for data. 4 boxes full of 1000 ml of lightly packed of soil will contain different amounts of worms, 0 grams, 5 grams, 10 grams, and 15 grams. Once the buckets are set up with soil and worms, they will be placed in a warm environment. A camera will be placed over the boxes to take comparison pictures each day. At the end of each week the weight of the peels will be collected for further data. At the end of the trial, the original peels will be massed to measure how much mass they have lost since week 0. **

Safety Or Environmental Concerns
A safety concern would be mold. Over time the decomposing peels will develop mold and release spores that aren't healthy to breathe in.

Experimental Design
(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

Resources and Budget Table

 * ** 250 Super Red Wigglers, if you don’t have worms already you can purchase them from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm online. (average cost $19.99) **
 * ** 4 Plastic 6 quart bins, Walmart.com provides a wide array of boxes and bins, (around $20.00) **
 * ** Soil/Potting Matter, be consistent with your choice, there will be 1000ml of soil in each bin ($10.00) **
 * ** 5 whole navel Oranges ($2.50) **
 * ** Camera, found at Staples (Owned) **
 * ** Tripod, found at local tech stores, ex. Staples, OfficeDepot, OfficeMax (Owned) **
 * ** Newspapers (Free) **
 * ** Scale (metric) **

Data Table
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Time Line

 * 2/29 Receive worms (home) **
 * 3/2 Run test of set up, collect data (JBES) **
 * 3/12 Week 1 measure mass of peels (JBES) **
 * 3/14 Week 2 measure mass of peels (JBES) **
 * 3/16 Data, Observations, and Evidence Due **
 * 3/19 Week 3 measure mass of peels (JBES) **
 * 3/21 4 and Final day of measurement (JBES) **
 * 3/25 Complete experiment and data collection (home) **
 * 3/26 Begin data analysis, graphs, spreadsheets (home) **
 * 4/13 Wiki Due **

Background Research
Research was done in order to find out more about how the project was to work and succeed. Numerous website were visited to find out where to buy worms, how to care for them, what to feed them, what materials (soils, nutrients, special worm bedding) would suit them, what foods they like and aren't supposed to eat, and what environment to keep them in. It was found that the worms were to be bought from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm online. Once the worms arrived, they were placed in a 6 qt. container with soil from a local home center. Further research led me to find out the worms need to be lightly misted with water to stay moist. They shouldn't be placed in warm, sunny places because the worms will want to crawl out of the box. The worms are not supposed to eat anything that has to do with seafood, fast food, or any kind of cat or dog food. It was proven that the wormer-medicine that cats and dogs are given as babies can and will kill the worms. After more research, it was decided that I would use orange peels for the experiment. It is most easy for worms to digest fruit rinds than anything else and it seemed like a common fruit that would be easy to afford and manipulate in my project.

Detailed Procedure
1. Order Composting Worms 2. Gather other materials 3. Shred 5 grams of newspaper to place in each box., soak in water, and squeeze out excess water. Place newspaper in the bottom of each box. 4.When worms arrive, set up boxes with 1000ml of moist soil in each 5. Mass out the corresponding amount of worms and place in boxes: 0 grams, 5 grams, 10 grams, 15 grams 6. Place 10 grams of orange peels in each container, spreading them out evenly. 7. Line up the boxes where they will be for the next 3 weeks in order from least amount of worms to greatest. 8. At the end of each week, take the peels from one box at a time, and weigh them. Record the data and compare to beginning day.

Photo List

 * Worms
 * Worms in buckets
 * Setting up containers
 * Weighing peels
 * Experiment creator weighing peels

Written Results

 * An experiment was conducted to see if more worms in a given amount of soil decomposed food faster than lesser amounts of worms. Four boxes were set up to with 1000mL of soil and 10g of orange peels. Box 1 contained no worms and and the total amount of mass the peels lost was 1.7 grams. Box 2 had 5 grams of worms and the peels gained .1 grams. Box 3 contained 10 grams of worms and the orange peels lost a mass of 2 grams. Box 4 contained 15 grams of worms and the peels lost a total mass of .7 grams. **

All Raw Data
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Graphs
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Photos
Place where containers were set up (Greenhouse, JBES)

Single Worm (JBES) Scale used to measure peels (JBES) Rachel Holding Peels from 5gram bucket (JBES) Peels from 5gram bucket (JBES) 10 gram bucket (JBES) Worms in bucket when they arrived (JBES) Worms close up (Home)

Conclusion
During this experiment, the goal was to see if different amounts of worms in different boxes decomposed 10 grams of orange peels faster. 4 boxes containing 0, 5, 10, and 15 grams of worms were used for this experiment. In the first few weeks of the experiment, it was noted that all boxes were growing mold on their peels. This may have accounted for the mass gain in the peels when weighed.

Discussion

 * An experiment was conducted to see if worms affected the speed of orange peels decomposing. 4 boxes were set up with 1000mL of soil and 10 grams of orange peels. One box contained no worms while the other boxes contained 5, 10, and 15 grams of worms, respectively. There were many components to the experiment and by the end, the question was answered. It does not matter how many or how much worms to use, all the peels decompose different amounts at different times. At the second measurement date, all the peels weighed more than they did when the experiment started. The peels in Box 1 (0 grams of worms) went from having a mass of ten grams, to having a mass of 11.4. The peels in Box 2 (5 grams of worms) weighed 10 grams originally and by the 2nd date of weighing, they weighed 10.5 grams. Peels in Box 3 and Box 4 weighed 10.7 and 11.4 grams, respectively. **


 * When weighing the peels, it was observed that soil from inside the boxes was carried over onto the scale and could’ve been a major factor in causing the weight to go up. By the third date of measuring, mold was growing on all of the peels in every box. The mold may have accounted for rise in the weight, also. This was a problem that was encountered. Surprisingly, none of the worms crawled out of thebox during the experiment. Before the experiment started, all the worms were kept in one big box. It was observed that day after day, more were were found dead on the greenhouse floor. When the experiment was set up, a piece of paper towel was placed on top of each box with the pids clicked on tight. **


 * In the end, the experiment did not fail and was answered differently than hypothesized. **


 * An experiment was conducted to determine if different amounts of worms in different boxes decomposed 10 grams of orange peels faster. It was hypothesized that the more worms in a given amount of soil will affect how fast 10 grams of orange peels will decompose. This hypothesis is based upon prior knowledge about worms and composting. 4 boxes containing 0, 5, 10, and 15 grams of worms were used for this experiment. Box 1 contained no worms and and the total amount of mass the peels lost was 1.7 grams. Box 2 had 5 grams of worms and the peels gained .1 grams. Box 3 contained 10 grams of worms and the orange peels lost a mass of 2 grams. Box 4 contained 15 grams of worms and the peels lost a total mass of .7 grams. In the first few weeks of the experiment, it was noted that all boxes were growing mold on their peels. This may have accounted for the mass gain in the peels when weighed. According to the data that was gathered in the end, the question could not be answered absolutely. The information had no pattern to give a clear, concise answer. **