“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven – A time to give birth, and a time to die;” Ecclesiastes 3: 1 & 2
As part of our Bible Adventure Time with the kids we purchased “The Origin of Life Series” from the Institute of Creation Science Research (ICR). We have reached the stage where the kids have to observe a creature life cycle. I was in fear and trepidation of this because I can’t stand creepy, crawly things but the kids love the mealworms and are excited about having them and observing them. I’m not seeing mealworms in my sleep but I do worry about them getting out when they turn to beetles and laying eggs all over the house. Dean and I have a plan in place just in case.
Date experiment started: 5/14/2011
How many mealworms? 19 5/21/2011 – 16
How long are the mealworms? Approximately 2 inches long.
General observations: They do not like the light. They move quickly and burrow into the oatmeal. They have 6 legs, 2 antennae and little pincers on their mouths. The mealworms crawl along the edges of the tank and try to climb up the sides. Other mealworms burrow down in the oatmeal and stay hidden. The mealworms will occasionally crawl on top of the cut up potato and they also eat small portions of the potato. They like to stay together. We put 2 in a smaller container and they stayed together.We have observed that they do not all exhibit the same behavior. In an experiment (1 mealworm by itself on a piece of white paper with a choice of a shelter or a pile of oatmeal) 1 went immediately to the shelter instead of the oatmeal. Another mealworm circled around went back and forth and then went to the oatmeal. Another mealworm in the same conditions went immediately for the oatmeal.
Hypothesis from experiment results: The mealworm that went straight to the oatmeal was hungry. The mealworm that circled around then eventually went to the oatmeal maybe was not hungry, maybe wanted to hide but could not find or see the shelter the oatmeal was familiar, quicker, and easier? The one that went immediately to the shelter was not hungry but did not like the light or being exposed and wanted to hide.
This is Day 10 of the “Life Cycle of a Mealworm”.