1. The pumping organs of an earthworm is called the "Aortic arches" which is also known as the 'heart'.
2. The parts of the digestive tract through which food passes through are the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, crop, gizzard, and the intestine.
3. The part of the earthworm that serve as its brain is the nervous system. The nervous system is supported by the ventral nerve cord. It is connected because it travels the length of the worm on the ventral side with a series of Ganglia.
4.The parts in the worm's body that are included in the excretory system are the nephridia and anus.
5. You can find out whether an earthworm eats soil if there is a black or dark substance inside of it when you dissect it. You can also tell if earthworms have eaten soil if their intestines are black
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| Dissected worm with soil around it |
6. The earthworm's setae allow it to anchor into the soil and move through dirt. Without an earthworm's setae it would be extremely difficult for it to navigate around.
7.The earthworm's digestive system is adapted for extracting small amounts of food from large amounts of soil because of the crop which stores a massive amount of ingested soil that is then broken down by the gizzard.
8. After segment 32 all i will continue to see is the Clitellum and the intestines. In the posterior end there are solid and liquid substances which is actually the food taken in by the worm.
The purpose of this dissection is to show us what the interior of the worm actually looks like close up and to polish our skills of applying basic knowledge in what we see. This lab helps us understand the biological, physical, and chemical role of an earthworm. It also relates to what i am learning in class because the earthworm is one of the major classes of the Phylum Annelida which is what i am currently learning about. My experience in this lab did not go as smoothly as i hoped. Mainly because of the difficulty in the dissection itself but overall it was a positive experience because i actually learned so much and learning about something by doing hands on activities is much more fun than reading a textbook and jotting down answers. I never knew that a "simple" worm could also be so complex. Surely, after doing this lab i will never be able to look at a worm the same way ever again.
