![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-extension\/uploads\/sites\/2069\/2024\/02\/Experiment-396x223.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Pollinators are important to the environment, but if you dig a little deeper, you\u2019ll find the unsung heroes of good gardens everywhere: nightcrawlers! These wonderful wigglers are earthworms that help aerate, filtrate and recycle organic material in your soil making it richer to help plants grow and thrive. Get to know your earthworms!<\/p>\n
Join local gardener, photographer and inventor Brad Griffith for the Green Thumb Education Series presentation \u201cUnderstanding Your Nightcrawlers: If Darwin Had Popsicle Sticks\u201d to find out more on nightcrawlers and what Charles Darwin, earthworms and popsicle sticks have in common.<\/p>\n
This presentation will be held in-person on Thursday, May 9th from noon \u2013 1:00 p.m. at Saint Andrew\u2019s Episcopal Church, 510 E Park Ave, in Port Angeles and will also be broadcast live via Zoom.<\/p>\n
Find a direct link to the live presentation here.<\/a><\/p>\n Or join by phone: 253-215-8782<\/p>\n Meeting ID: 936 2989 8830<\/p>\n Passcode: 676224<\/p>\n Brad\u2019s videography of nightcrawlers (Lumbricus terrestris) has led to new discoveries about worm behaviors. \u201cUnderstanding how worms turn green plant materials into nutrient rich soils is critical to the growth of our own food products,\u201d Brad said.<\/p>\n \u00b7 A worm tearing off live green plant materials and moving stones with its mouth. Brad\u2019s macro video photography takes you down inside a worm midden mound where this crossroads of the ecosystem begins to convert natural materials to nutrient rich soil.<\/p>\n \u00b7 How to spot a nightcrawler\u2019s front door entrance called a midden mound. Worms can move natural vegetation, soil, sticks, stones, leaves, grass, plastic toys, marbles, coins, popsicle sticks and more to build this protective entrance to their burrow.<\/p>\n \u00b7 How Charles Darwin\u2019s worm experiments inspired Brad to design his own trials using the midden mounds and popsicle sticks.<\/p>\n The displays will also feature experiments for primary and secondary education use including field experiments such as \u201cThe Night Crawlers Tug-of-War,\u201d \u201cThe Stone Drag,\u201d \u201cThe Worm Hut\u201d and \u201cThe Worm Well.\u201d These experiments are useful in teaching behavioral science, developing observational skills and result in students becoming more aware of the everyday ecosystems that surround them.<\/p>\n Brad fell in love with photography in high school and continued his education and career of 25 years working with film in the printing industry. His love of the outdoors brought his family to the Olympic Peninsula in 2000 when he started a construction business. Finding new and unusual subjects to photograph led Brad to photograph nightcrawlers eating, drinking and moving sticks and stones to build their midden mounds. He also realized the need for students to be creative with making their own STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) experiments and learning observation science. Brad invented a basic field experiment that students can make using popsicle sticks and tools they make themselves. Brad\u2019s photography and videos can be found on his YouTube channel at https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@USASTEAMcom<\/a><\/p>\n The Green Thumb Education Series, sponsored by the W<\/span>ashington\u00a0<\/span>S<\/span>tate\u00a0<\/span>U<\/span>niversity<\/span>\u00a0Clallam County Master Gardeners, is held on the second and fourth Thursday\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>each month through October. In November, December, and January, one lecture is offered. Scheduled\u00a0<\/span>presentations are subject to change. Visit the WSU Extension Clallam County website calendar for the latest information on upcoming presentations. For questions, call 360-565-2678.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pollinators are important to the environment, but if you dig a little deeper, you\u2019ll find the unsung heroes of good gardens everywhere: nightcrawlers! These wonderful wigglers are earthworms that help […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":9574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":[],"_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_expiration_date":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[34,35],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/clallam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/12339"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/clallam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/clallam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/clallam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/clallam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/12339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/clallam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/clallam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/clallam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12339"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/clallam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=12339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-extension\/uploads\/sites\/2069\/2024\/02\/EatingGrass-396x223.jpg\")
Brad\u2019s experiment displays will show:<\/p>\n