*Always make sure to check for any allergies before taking the mealworms and food into a classroom or around people.* Make sure you are taking care of the specific type of mealworm that you get.

Different pet stores sell different types of mealworms. The way that I set up our mealworm homes were based on my research and speaking with the staff at the store. When you purchase the mealworms from a pet store, it is best to ask the staff what the mealworms eat and the best ways to keep/store them. I used a layer of plain oatmeal on the bottom of the container and then added a few pieces of apples and carrots. (I ended up keeping a few mealworms for my kids to also do the experiment at home.) They are typically sold as very inexpensive food for lizards and other pets.įor a class with 20 children, I bought enough so that each child had at least one mealworm and we divided the mealworms into 5 containers. Mealworms can usually be purchased at a local pet store. Worksheets (FREE worksheets based on this activity are available at the bottom of this post).

This iteration of the material was specifically designed to package beef, of which Brazil is a major producer, but could be applied to other food products. It’s still widely used owing to its abundance, low cost and excellent film-forming properties,” says chemist and materials scientist Márcia Regina de Moura Aouada. “Gelatin was one of the first materials used in the production of biopolymers. Nanoclay was added to give the film double the strength of conventional polyethylene packaging films, and a nano emulsion of black pepper essential oil helped improve flavor and extend shelf life. The group, comprised of scientists at the University’s Composites and Hybrid Nanocomposites Group, used widely available gelatin as a base. They say the material is edible, biodegradable, anti-microbial and higher performing than petro-based incumbents.

In Brazil, researchers at São Paulo State University have made a food packaging material from gelatin, clay and black pepper essential oil. #4 Pepper-infused bioplastic film developed for beef packaging

Download eating mealworms