There are 5,500 known species of earthworms in 21 families. They are found everywhere, except in polar or dry climates. Their sizes vary: they can be between two centimeters and about three meters in length. The biggest known earthworm is the giant Gippsland earthworm, found in Australia. It is usually about 80 cm in length, but can grow to about 3 meters.
The most common earthworm (in Europe, and most other temperate climate regions) grows to a size of about 20–25 cm when extended.
Most earthworms can regrow lost segments, assuming the worm has not had too much damage. This capability varies by species.
Long ago, all animals looking like worms were lumped together by John Ray and by Linnaeus in their classifications. Later, biologists found that some were in quite different groups. Roundworms and flatworms are different phyla. Inchworms are a type of caterpillar, and the slow-worm is a legless lizard.
The average earthworm is a reddish brown color, with a pointed posterior and anterior end. There are no eyes or other discerning facial features, only a simply opening for a mouth. Earthworms have long, segmented bodies, covered in microscopic setae, or bristles, which help to anchor and pull the worm via longitudinal muscle contractions. Earthworms have no lungs, and absorb oxygen directly through their skin. In order to do this, they must stay moist, and do so by lubricating their skin with glands along their bodies.
Earthworms are invertebrates, lacking a skeleton. To support and shape the body, they are filled with coelomic fluid. Earthworms sometimes appear to have a "belt" or "saddle" around their bodies; this is a "clitelum", a structure containing maturing eggs.
Earthworms typically live in damp (but not wet), loose soil. They can also be found in loose leaf litter, and after it rains they can be found on the surface as they are forced out of the water-logged soil. Many gardeners welcome earthworms, as they aerate and enrich the soil with their droppings. They are quite happy in compost, gorging themselves on decaying vegetable matter. An earthworm's burrow can be seen by the pile of dark, sand-like droppings, or casts, surrounding the entrance.
Earthworms are hermaphrodites, meaning they each contain male and female gametes. During mating, both worms exchange sperm and have eggs fertilized. The belt-like swollen area on the earthworm’s body, commonly called the "saddle" or "belt", is called a clitelum. It secretes a slimy substance that forms capsules which protect the eggs (sperm cells and eggs merge inside the capsule and form embryos). Inside, 1-20 eggs mature, taking between 60 and 90 days to hatch, depending on environmental factors such as humidity and temperature. An earthworm takes up to a year to fully mature, and in the wild they can live from 4 to 8 years.
The typical earthworm diet is decaying matter, humus, leaf litter, microbial fungi, and other microscopic organisms. Earthworms are important to the environment, breaking down organic matter and passing it through their gut as newly enriched soil. An earthworm has no teeth, so it swallows grit to help grind food in its multi-chambered gut. As an earthworm burrows and feeds, it aerates the soil and adds nutrients from deeper soil layers to upper layers, making easier new plant growth in the process. For this reason, they are valued by farmers and gardeners worldwide.
Wire
Wire is a long, thin and flexible piece of metal. Wires are made in many different metals and sizes, and are used for many purposes. Wire rope has been used for centuries.
Electrical wire is wire used to carry electricity. When people touch wire that is carrying electricity, they get shocked, which is bad, so the outside coating of electrical wires is colored. Most electric wires are black, but some wires have a differently colored coating. Different colors indicate different purposes, for example, in the United States, green or bare is a ground (earth) wire, white is a neutral wire, and black, blue, red, brown, yellow, and orange are hot (live) wires.
A wiretap is when law enforcement puts a device into a phone or other electronic device to hear what suspected criminals are going to do.
Copper wire is the best known type of wire, but wire can also be made out of aluminum or other metals. If we did not have wiring almost all of our electronics would not be working or available.
Whistle
A whistle is a thing that uses a stream of gas (usually air) to make a sound, or the act of making a similar sound called whistling.
Whip
A whip is a long strand of leather or other fabric with a hard handle. When a person shakes a whip fast, it makes a loud "crack" sound, because it has broken the sound barrier. It is used for directing or hitting animals or people.
Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen is a German punk band from Düsseldorf, Germany. They are one of the most popular punk bands from Germany. Their career started in 1982. Their first album was released in 1984 and named "Opel-Gang".
Most of their songs are in German. Some are in English and in a few other languages such as Spanish. They have many fans in German-speaking countries but also they have many fans in South America and other parts of Europe.
The band consists of the following members:
Balalaika
The balalaika is a musical instrument from Russia. The Balalaika family includes the piccolo balalaika, prima balalaika, sekunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass balalaika and contrabass balalaika. They all have three strings. There are many ways to tune balalaika; the most common tuning is E-E-A. The prima balalaika is played with the fingers, the sekunda and alto either with the fingers or a pick depending on the music being played. The basses and contrabasses, which have legs that rest on the floor, are played with leather picks.
Early pictures of the balalaika show it had between two and six strings, like some Central Asian instruments. Frets on earlier balalaikas were made of animal gut and tied to the neck so that they could be moved around by the player.
The balalaika was improved by a Russian, Vasily Vasil'yevich Andreev. He had heard peasants on his farm playing badly made instruments. Andreev wanted to improve the instrument and use it for concerts. He spent the rest of his life working on this instrument with help from two violin makers and a carpenter. They improved the soundboard, which made it louder. He came up with the idea of the prima balalaike, sekunda, alto, bass and controbass balalaika. He then spent several years writing and arranging music for groups of balalaikas to play. The first public performance by the Ensemble of Balalaika Players took place in 1888.
After the Russian Revolution, the Communist Party encouraged the playing of the instrument and large balalaika orchestras were started.
Klezmer
Klezmer is a kind of music. It was made by the Jews of Eastern Europe, and it is a mix of Russian, Greek and Romanian folk music, based on and Jewish prayer music.
In old times, it was played during Jewish weddings and religious festivals, and it was made for dancing. The most common klezmer instruments are the clarinet and the violin, because they are the best to play in the sad klezmer style.
New South Wales
New South Wales is one of the states of Australia. It the oldest state in Australia and is sometimes called the "Premier State". Of all Australian states, New South Wales has the most people. An inhabitant of New South Wales is referred to as a New South Welshman. The capital city of New South Wales is Sydney. Sydney is the biggest city in Australia.
The name New South Wales came from the journal of Lieutenant James Cook (later Captain Cook), who sailed up the east coast of Australia in 1770. He thought that the land looked like the south coast of Wales. He named it "New Wales" but then changed the name in his journal to "New South Wales".