"Wormathon"- Investigating our questions

In our final week of the spring semester we wrapped up exploring our questions around worms. We counted our worms first. We had 20 worms from the store the first week, and 20 worms we dug up in Science Corner beds. This past week, 5 weeks later, we only found13 store bought worms, and 9 Science Corner worms. Why do you think that is? We decided it could be because the worms were just difficult to find, that we didn't try long enough, or that they actually died and their bodies became too difficult to find. 

After we counted our worms we reexamined some of the questions that we had our first week. Small groups of YES teens investigated whether a worm would respond to light, why they thought the worm kept coming off the plate, how fast a worm could go, and would worms crawl toward each other. Groups conducted their experiment and then presented out to the group. 

How fast do you think a worm can crawl? Set a certain distance to measure and time how long it takes the worm to get there. Do you think a fatter or longer worm will move faster than a skinner/shorter worm? 

Why does the worm keep crawling off the foam plate? One group noticed that while they were trying to conduct their investigations, their worm kept trying to crawl off the plate. They thought maybe the worm was looking for something. They tested their theory by putting a damp paper towel on one side of the plate and putting the worm across both sides, so one half of the worm was on the towel and the other half was on the bare plate. What do you think happened? 

Do you think a worm will respond to light? How? One group shined a flashlight on their worm, and another group went to a darker part of the room to see if they would find any differences in behavior. If someone shined a flashlight on your face, what you would do?