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This Reduce Our Carbon Footprint, Let’s Compost! lesson plan also includes:
- Activity
- Lab & Experiment
- Vocabulary
- Teacher Reference
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Roll up your sleeves and get a little dirty with this elementary and middle school compost lesson. All you need is a large plastic container, a couple old newspapers, some organic waste, and a few hundred worms and you're ready to start composting in your classroom.
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CCSS:
Adaptable
NGSS:
Adaptable
Concepts
Additional Tags
Instructional Ideas
- Include this lesson in a life science unit on ecosystems or the carbon cycle
- Before and/or after creating the compost bin, teach students about the process of decomposition
- Create a classroom job associated with maintaining the class compost bin
- Investigate the biodegradability of different materials by placing them in the compost bin and observing the effects
Classroom Considerations
- Use the resulting black gold in a school garden or offer it to parents with gardens at home
- Provide a container in the cafeteria for collecting organic waste from students' lunches
Pros
- A list of key vocabulary and definitions is included with the lesson
- Significant background information about decomposition is provided to support the teaching of this lesson
Cons
- Lesson does not explicitly address teaching student's about decomposition
- The purchase of worms is required for this science investigation