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Post by theinfamousj on Sept 20, 2005 22:53:02 GMT -5
Hello everyone. I'm a student teacher who is doing her year of student teaching. Next year I get a classroom that will be ALL MINE :: cue evil laugh :: . I got started vermicomposting because I (1) live in an apartment and (2) am a gardner and (3) can always use free potting soil-type-material since I have no ground on which to start a hot compost pile. But, I digress ...
I have yet to talk to my supervising teacher, but I found out that he teaches Physical Science, which turns out to be a general overview of all the high school sciences (did I mention I'm to be a high school science teacher who has a degree in chemistry?). I had previously assumed that I had to teach biology as a starting teacher, and so I was collecting information on how to make desktop sized worm bins (I can set up a class-sized one no problem but scaling down has caused me some headaches) as I was going to do that in relation to a hands-on carbon cycle experiment. I figured, however, that I'd be assigned to student teach chemistry, since that is what my degree is in.
This is an incredibly lengthy post to essentially say that I think that I'll get a chance to walk my students through a vermicomposting experience all their own THIS YEAR. So, if anyone can figure out a good scaled down worm bin that does not cost too much to set up (I'll provide worms; made out of free recycled materials is even better), please let me know. I am most specifically concerned with how to feed the micro-mini worm bin. How much is too much? How often is too often? Are they going to process everything to the point that I would harvest my big worm bin but not have finished their first food? Gaaaah ... help!
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Post by theinfamousj on Sept 20, 2005 23:44:59 GMT -5
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Post by tt on Sept 21, 2005 0:25:10 GMT -5
hi i do bottle workshops. with different soils and I use euros and feed food waste. I use three to 5 types of soil-peat-sand whatever i can find. www.standinghorse.com/wriggler/bottle.htmli cant get your link to open will look in the morning computor freezing up I dont know how it will work with high school but I have great sucess with grades 1 to 5 . I always make sure that they get some cocoons and tell them they are going to have babies. The little girls actually rock the bottles and sing to them. It is really sweet to see. |
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Post by theinfamousj on Sept 21, 2005 9:34:49 GMT -5
That is beautiful! I like your link much more than the one I pasted in because yours uses only one bottle.
Now here is the question: how often do they need to feed the worms. I'm assuming that my students will maintain a bottle in the classroom for a while to watch decomposition and then use the resultant castings when they pot up a seedling for our state's garden-in-schools initiative.
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Post by did not sign in again on Sept 21, 2005 10:38:21 GMT -5
The worms go back and forth so i just feed the top. So when it disapears feed again.
Jay was working with trying different bedding for the reds so maybe he will let us know what he found out. Plus he was changing the bottle design. My works well but I use dirt and Euros. I think if i were to use reds I would just use chipped newspaper then you could see them consume the paper and top feed.
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Post by Jay Blair on Sept 21, 2005 18:59:03 GMT -5
Infamousj, this weekend I will try to do process step pictures and post them . But remember , if I die first, lack of graphic illustration is not my responsibility. With my back that could be a viable option  |
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JudyA
New Member
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Post by JudyA on Sept 21, 2005 22:57:12 GMT -5
 LOTS Of rootbeer floats the next few days so I can get a few bottles ready.  I always try to hang onto them, but they disappear. I think these will be perfect for traveling peepshows of worms lives which I would like to have at my garden club presentation.
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Post by tt on Sept 27, 2005 10:48:03 GMT -5
Infamousj, this weekend I will try to do process step pictures and post them . But remember , if I die first, lack of graphic illustration is not my responsibility. With my back that could be a viable option Jay did you get this done?  |
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Post by Jay Blair on Sept 27, 2005 13:09:26 GMT -5
Terrill, You ask if I have it done yet? As Thomas Edison was heard to remark when he was asked about the two thousand attempts he made to find the perfect filament for the light bulb he invented. "I never failed once. It just happened to be a 2000-step process. " In my case as I am using a cheap kiddie model digital camera only suitable for out door use , I an trying to build a halogen lighted photo backdrop in my study similar to what our plant used to photograph our products in. I tried outdoor photographs and could not get the resolution so I remembered my studies of Thomas Alva and am trying to maximize conditions with materials I am salvaging and rag scraps for backdrops. Sadly though , the last few days most of my time has been spent laying on a back board . But I have made steps in the process. Label removal is easier if you fill the bottles and freeze them . The cold compromises the glue bond more effectively than heat. Also using scraps of the discarded cap top to fill the gap of the diameter increase splits in the worm chamber cap and tacking it with hot glue at the seams or fusing the seam with methyl ethyl ketone furniture stripper makes for a neater cap with better over all visibility. Just be sure to disinfect the piece well to remove chemical traces of the stripper. I'm able to get around on my crutch today so will try to fit more time in as I rest from doing what yard clean up I can. Sorry for the delays but I can only make my body do so much right now. Its slow, but steady and at least I'm not falling behind |
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Post by tt on Sept 27, 2005 14:37:16 GMT -5
Jay i have the perfect solution. Just lay on the couch and hang the stuff from the ceiling the backdrop and everything and just click away. then when finished you can just put the worms in the bottles and have more ground space. Lol.
No i know how you feel. I fell again and my sinus are infected not feeling so great either . i think i must have an inner ear infection
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Post by Jay Blair on Sept 27, 2005 14:57:16 GMT -5
Terril , To hang it from the ceiling I would have to pay the EMTs overtime and put up with their quizzical look  I did have enough sun today and hobbled out to the truck and used the hood of my Blazer as a back drop. Heres the first picture.  Click on above image for larger view. After I rest I will do the next one. |
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Post by Jay Blair on Sept 28, 2005 15:30:26 GMT -5
Terrill,
See even we retired hardware electrical engineers can learn new stuff. I narrowed the display back to normal and figured how to get the pictures here too. I may become a software guru yet ;D
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Post by tt on Sept 29, 2005 9:02:14 GMT -5
thats good Jay. these boards take a while to learn and beat into submission while trying to get ti to do what you want. But I knew you could do it. Im still fighting my sinus problem it is trying to defeat me. Still in my ears and driving me crazy. I might have to break down and go the the doctor  |
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LOTS Of rootbeer floats the next few days so I can get a few bottles ready. 
I always try to hang onto them, but they disappear. I think these will be perfect for traveling peepshows of worms lives which I would like to have at my garden club presentation.
