Download This Full Lesson: From Apple Cores to Healthy Soil
Lesson Description: A composting experiment reveals to students how soil organisms, temperature, air, and water are able to decompose organic waste and enrich soil.
Objectives
(Note: All four objectives are appropriate for older students; younger students may accomplish only the first three objectives.)
The student will:
- list three reasons for recycling organic waste;
- name four specific organic wastes that will decompose in soil;
- construct a controlled experiment investigating how temperature, air, water, and soil microbes work together in soil to decompose organic waste; and
- describe the nutrient cycle.
Estimated Teaching Time
- Session One: 45 to 60 minutes.
- Session Two: 30 minutes. Sessions Three to Ten: 30 minutes and short observations over several weeks.
Alignments
Next Generation Science Standards
2-PS1-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
3-LS1-1. Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
5-PS1-3. Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.
5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
Common Core English Language Arts – Writing
W.2.2. Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
W.3.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. W.4.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. W.5.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. W.6.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
W.7.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content
W.8.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. Common Core English Language Arts Speaking and Listening
SL.3.4. Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
SL.4.4. Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
SL.5.4. Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
Literacy 6-12 in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects English Language Arts – Science and Technical Subjects
RST.6-8.7. Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).
English Language Arts – Writing: Text Types and Purposes
WHST.6- 8.2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.
National Family and Consumer Science Standards
2.2.1 Analyze individual and family responsibility in relation to the environmental trends and issues.
2.2.2 Summarize environmental trends and issues affecting families and future generations.
2.2.3 Demonstrate behaviors that conserve, reuse, and recycle resources to maintain the environment. 2.5.1 Analyze the use of resources in making choices that satisfy needs and wants of individuals and families.
9.2.9 Demonstrate waste disposal and recycling methods.