The soil is crawling with earthworms although we cannot see them. This is because earthworms are (13) creatures and a magnifying glass is needed to see them clearly. However, some earthworms can grow up to a few metres long. Earthworms make tunnels by munching through the soil, swallowing tiny bits of decomposed food (14) vegetables and fruit along the way. As they tunnel in the soil, they secrete slime which contains nitrogen. Plants (15) nitrogen to grow well. Hence, earthworms play an (16) role in the growth of plants and trees.

Earthworms excrete their (17) , which are called castings, underground or just outside their tunnels. These droppings are full of goodness as they help to make the soil more (18) , allowing new seedlings to grow in the ground.

Most worms do not live past one year for they have to cope with garden forks and other predators. It is a (19) belief that if you cut a worm into two, the two halves will still live and (20) into separate, fully formed worms. However, you could end up having two halves of a dead worm.