We’ve been working on a big science project all semester. For my son’s weekly enrichment class that he attends, each student had to work on a science project. My son chose mealworms.
What are mealworms? I had never seen one until he chose this experiment. Honestly, I am not a bug or creature lover. I guess I’m a city girl at heart. But like any good momma would do, I allowed mealworms in our house.
Mealworms are the larvae of the Darkling Beetle. They go through a complete four stage cycle which is fascinating to watch: egg, larvae, pupae, beetle. For anyone who has done a butterfly kit with their child, this is similar, except you can watch the cycle go on forever if you’d like.
Mealworms can be purchased at a pet store. They need to be in an open container with oatmeal or wheat flour to eat and they drink the juice from carrots.
For this experiment, we tested how temperature effected the growth of the mealworms. We had one box in our garage and another outside. As it turns out, mealworms grow quickly through the four stage cycle when they are in warm, humid air.
A great site that has everything you’d ever want to know about mealworms is through the University of Arizona.
Linking up with:
Hopping over to visit from HipHSHop! Nice work guys . . . why do I not want to eat my oatmeal this morning?
I know! We’ve stopped eating oatmeal too!
I bet my son would LOVE to do this experiment! Me maybe not so much!
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, lol… Sanity… mostly, probably sums up our lives the best. I’m glad you stopped by because I LOVED searching around in your blog. We are neighbors to alligators as well, but we are from Louisiana..
I will be back, I’m sure of it!
So glad you stopped by! So you must live in a hot swamp too:)
cool experiment! I know a few kids who would like this.
It is cool, if you don’t mind bugs:)
it IS cool – and hip – and full of awesome – but I still think mealworms are gross – and they kind of scare me – and I’m not afraid to say that out loud! Your babies are far better off having you as a live biology teacher then me – I somehow think you’re less squeamish. I smiled as I read this – thank you. God bless and keep you and your students Christina!
I was incredibly squeamish for a while. Eventually I had to get used to it:) So glad you visited Craig!
Thanks so much for linking up with the Apologia Blog Roll. I look forward to following your science/homeschool journey.
Blessings,
Sarah