Help needed for "Going Green As You Clean" Experiment!

[tbpage1970]

I'm helping my 4th grade son with this posted experiment - Going Green As you Clean. He purchased worms online that were delivered to our home. They were rather small compare to live bait worms. Anyway, we purchased the organic soil and mixed our dish detergent soap in the stated concentrations. In total, he had 84 cups filled. However, after 5 days, all worms were in the same state - slightly slower ... and some had escaped.

Question:
- Any suggestions on the best way to moisten the soil before this experiment? We think we just dehydrated the worms. How can you determine the right amount of moisture without throwing your concentration level of detergent?
- Also, we think we didn't have enough detergent. With such a large amount of dirt, this seemed like such a small amount of liquid. Could this be doubled? (With moist dirt, it should require less dirt - which should help as well.)
- How can you ensure that you maintain the moisture without throwing the concentration level? Should the worms, in fact, be kept in the fridge the full 5 days? Should they be sealed better with celophane and then foil?
- Any suggestions to better secure the cups? WIth foil and rubberbands, a handful still escaped.
- Are any holes needed at the top of the cup for ventilation?

My son does want to try again with another 84 cups and a trip to the bait shop. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

P.S. We love the site! Have used it for 3 years! My son won first at district last year thanks to the great information provided!

Thank you!
A Slightly Stressed Mom from Texas

[deleted-71940]

Hello,

Because concentration is not dependent upon volume, doubling the amount of liquid diluted to a given concentration (such as 50%) will not have an effect on the concentration. If you did not observe anything with your current levels of moisture, perhaps you might want to increase the amount of the detergent solution in each cup. You might also want to think about increasing the concentration of detergent.

Hope this helps,
Nithin T