Our+Journal

= OUR JOURNAL  =

A deeper look into the lives of our mealworms; read on as the active toddlers become docile teenagers and finally, grow into their own shells as adults.
__January 26, 2011 (Day one as parents!)__ Today was an exciting day; we became parents of 13 healthy mealworms in their larva stage! We took some time to get aquainted with our new family taking some general notes of our mealworms' appearances (as parents, we did not want to forget these first moments!) We took note of some of the most interesting things we observed about our babies: They each had 6 legs, 2 antennas, 12 segments and the back half of their bodies are darker in colour. We also took note that some of them were larger than others and one in particular looked quit little compared to the others (it was also lighter in colour than the rest and seemingly has no exoskeleton ) We also took note that they could go in reverse, crawl better on paper than table, couldpick up front part of body, liked to burrow (into the bran!), could climb vertically (which is why one of the tips was to have a top on their home!) We layed out some different fruits, apples, cranberries and raisins, and they definitely preferred the apples! Something else we decided to do was to start a little growth chart:Instead of measuring all 13, we decided that we would choose 6. We measured six of them and noted some general observations, recorded below:

-measurements (measured 6 of 13):
 * ==== 2 cm ====
 * ==== 2.4 cm ====
 * ==== 2.1 cm ====
 * ==== 2.2 cm ====
 * ==== 1.6 cm ====
 * ==== 2.0 cm ====

Today, three of them have shed their exoskeletons and are looking very fresh!
==== During today's observations, we noticed that our mealworms have excellent grip; they could stay on paper when it was turned upside down (we are actually going to use this observation to create another experiment at a later date!)  ==== ==== Today, we separated our mealworms, twelve of were placed in a rubbermaid container with bran lining the bottom and holes punched in the cover. One lone mealworm was placed in a smaller rubbermaid container with bran and holes, but this isolated mealworm's container was also wrapped in black construction paper (See experiment #8 for more information). In both of their homes we placed a little piece of apple for moisture. ====



__February 2, 2011__ ==== Today when we checked in on our mealworms, there were two more exoskeletons found in the bran; and one was actually shedding as we observed! We noticed that the mealworms are a lot lighter when they shed their skin and almost see-through. We decided as a family-unit to give the mealworms a grape; we thought that maybe there is more moisture in grapes than in apples (we'll see what the kids like best!) We also tried some blueberries! ==== ====    __February 7, 2011__  ==== ==== The mealworms spent their first weekend alone at BMH 202 and did a great job! They did not leave too much of a mess and the neighbours did not complain so we figure that they will stay alone more often as they proved that they are responsible. ==== ==== Today there were three exoskeletons found in the bran; they must have followed in their siblings footsteps from yesterday. And, something exciting that happened, for the first time, the isolated mealworm molted and lost its exoskeleton. ==== ==== During today's observations and experiments, we noticed that mealworms can roll over when they are flipped onto there backs (a very useful life-skill for them to have and that we didn't even teach them!)  ==== ====      __February 14, 2011__  ====

Today there were three more exoskeletons, which means 11 of the 12 mealworms have molted, or several of them have molted more than once. Two of the worms were quite a bit lighter in colour.
==== Something very strange that we observed today was that none of them were particularly active; they weren't really moving, which is very strange because usually they are fairly active (they must have the Monday blues!)  ====

Today was the first time that there were no exoskeletons.
==== Again today, all of the mealworms were quite docile; we are becoming a little worried that we are doing something wrong; I guess that's what parents do though, worry over every little thing! Our predicition is that they are just growing up and becoming less active as they get into those awkward teenage times; we think they might be turning into pupas sooner rather than later! __February 21, 2011__ ==== What an exciting surprise we found today...pupas! We found two pupas in our little family and are assuming they changed into teenagers on the weekend! They look so different from their previous state; they're white, thick at the head and thinner at the tail. ========

__ February 23, 2011 __
==== On Monday we didn't do any formal observations but checked to see that they had survived another weekend by themselves (we're so proud of how responsible they are!) Something we did find this week that we were so overjoyed and astonished to find was that one of the pupas (teenagers) had turned into a beetle (adult)! We were ecstatic that all of our research and keen parenting skills had finally paid off! Hopefully our beetle will continue to grow. ==== ==== Today there were 6 exoskeletons; and since we did not do any observation on Monday (and therefore did not remove the exoskeletons, like we normally do, this may be whay there are so many in the container today. There are now 5 pupas and we are thinking when we check them next, we'll have even more beetles!  ====

A few final measurements:

 * 2.5 cm
 * 2.6 cm



Some VERY SAD news to report:
==== One of our mealworms decided to crawl up inside one of the boxes and we could not find him for some time. When we figured out where he was and tried to do a rescue mission (by tapping on the side of the box and then ripping open the side, like using the Jaws of Life!) It was too late. He was squished with his insides laying beside him. It was a sad, sad day for our little family and his family members. We decided to have a funeral for him where we all attended. __ February 28, 2011 __ We were SO EXCITED to find 4 beetles on this our last day with our children! Some final pictures of our toddlers turned teenagers turned adults! Farewell guys! :)   All the different stages in one home:           ====