Local News - November 2003

Students research crawling critters

Wooly Worm 101

By SARAH GRANO, Staff Writer

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A room full of students at West Lincoln Middle School chanted “Booger” in unison as they watched a woolly worm make his way up a string.

Booger was the day’s fastest woolly worm, beating out 75 others that seventh-grade students brought to school.

“I was nervous to race them because I thought I was going to lose,” said Anna Lopez, a seventh-grader. “I did lose, but I still like my worm.”

Lopez, along with 75 other students and their 75 woolly worms went to the front of the crowd in the school’s media center.

The students placed their woolly worms on a string that stretched from the bottom to the top of a white board.

When the race began, students blew on their woolly worms or prodded them with their fingers.

“I just got him this morning because he was fast,” said Scott Sturdevant, a seventh-grader.

“He made it almost all the way up, and he finished about an inch from being in first.”

Prior to the woolly worm race, students had brought in 116 woolly worms for some very scientific testing.

Each woolly worm has 13 segments, and according to folklore the color of each of the segments predicts what the weather will be for 13 weeks of winter.

The school has been collecting data from woolly worms for nearly 20 years.

“Through the years, we’ve been right about as much as we’ve been wrong,” said Jim Harkey, an assistant principal. “We’ve been right about the same amount that guessing will get you.”

Students took the data they gathered from the color of woolly worm segments and measured percents and created bar graphs.

“The first three weeks of winter are supposed to be rough,” Sturdevant said.

Through the experience, students learned about folklore, the eating habits of their worms and figuring out percentages.

They also learned how to find the furry little creatures.

“They were everywhere,” said Barbara Baker, a science and social studies teacher. “They were all in the road three weeks ago. You could go outside and pick up a leaf and they would be balled up.”

Wesley Bowyer went to great lengths to find his worm, which he named Speedy.

“It was a long way. I had to walk a quarter of a mile,” Bowyer said. “I had to walk down the road and find them crossing roads and getting squished and stuff.”

The woolly worm races did include a few casualties. Baker held one partially squished woolly worm in her hand.

“The girl that did this, she’s killed two so far. So, we’ve got to ban her from the ceremony,” Baker said.

Students are eager to see if their predictions come true. According to the woolly worms, the first and last three weeks of winter should be cold, but the middle of winter should be mild.

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Staff Writer Sarah Grano can be reached at 704-735-3031 or sgrano@ltnews.com

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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