DAY 14

[DAY 14] Independent Variables. I "fed" the worms on DAY 12 (see photos).
Group Yellow - 100 gm corn cobs, chopped (with mold, from dinner a few nights ago).
Group Red - 100 gm raspberries (molded in the refrigerator).
Group Orange - 100 gm strawberries (molded in the refrigerator).
Group Blue - 100 gm lettuce (soggy and bruised leaves, from the refrigerator).
I'll leave the worms alone for a few more days. [DAY 14]

Group Blue

Group Orange

Group Red

Group Yellow

DAY 11

[DAY 11] I decided to change the experiment set-up again because I can't see the worms or monitor their progress. Instead of having 12 cups divided into 4 groups, I have combined the contents of the 3 cups within the groups into one large plastic container. The plastic containers are disposable plastic containers that held pre-mixed salad that Mom gets from the super market. I used these containers in the beginning but only to hold the cups.
I was frustrated with the experiment because I couldn't see what was going on below the surface. I know that I still won't be able to see below the surface in the new set-up but I will be able to see more surface area. I did a little research and discovered that the worms actually prefer larger surface area instead of depth. However, the new containers are much bigger than the original disposable coffee cups and I had to add more bedding material in order to allow adequate cover for the worms. I shredded 16 pages of the Reader in Mom's shredder and soaked the shredded paper in 350ml of purified water. I repeated this process for all 4 containers then I added the contents of the original cups. I noticed there was still some water on the bottom of the container so I ripped up another Reader and divided the paper bits amongst the containers evenly (16 more pages but in slightly larger pieces than the shredded pages).
Much to my surprise, the worms were very active and there was very little sign of watermelon rind in the mixture. I did see crushed egg shells, which is to be expected because the shells require a long time to break down. Also, what looked like coffee grinds is deceiving because I couldn't tell the difference between the coffee grinds and the worm poop. The Q-Tip was still intact and the cardboard bits were still in original form. The shredded printer paper (credit card offers) showed signs of decay.
All in all, I'm excited about the new set-up. I think this will be better for Observations.[DAY 11]

DAY 10

[DAY 10] Added 50 worms to each container. [DAY 10]