wiggly worms
when i was about 11, we had our first biology lesson. we were all trotted out to the hockey pitch, in our shiny new shoes and oversized blazers, to pour soapy water onto a square foot of pitch and count how many worms popped out.

can anyone explain the point of this to me? and why the water had to be soapy?

anyway, we decided to assist the thirsty little worms in coming up to the wet earth for a nice refreshing drink.

"if we pound on the floor with our sticks," my friend sam pointed out brightly, "they will think it's raining and come up twice as fast."

sam has had many stupid ideas over the years. this was the first one i witnessed myself. not one group in the entire class found one single worm. because, the teacher told us grimly, our dancing and thumping around had scared the hell out of them and they had all wiggled downwards as fast as possible...
( rachelswipe with a fork, Tue 29 Jul 2008, 14:00, 4 replies)

now the science bit
The bubblesw in the soapy water popping on the surface sounds like rain so they come to the surface to not drown.

Certain birds stamp their tiny feet on the ground to simulate the sound of rain to bring them to the surface. However, banging sticks and stamping would be like a veloceraptor trying to simulate rain and even worms aren't that stupid.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Tue 29 Jul 2008, 14:07, closed)

gracias!
you are right.

worms are not that stupid.

which is more than can be said for me and my friends.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Tue 29 Jul 2008, 14:24, closed)

Herring gulls do that.
The frantic little foot stamping dance that is; it's possibly their only redeeming feature.
( jme, Tue 29 Jul 2008, 15:11, closed)

Well Maudlin
Considering an 8 year old child weighs about that of a decent size Velociraptor I don't see how that could be construed as a problem :P
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Tue 29 Jul 2008, 16:40, closed)