Composting Fun!

Composting Time
Science Whether you are planning to make a school compost pile or are just teaching your students about composting, go to the Microbe Zoo at www.commtechlab.msu.edu. This site contains enlarged images of microbes and lots of information on what happens in compost piles. Included is information about what happens to plastics in compost piles.

Composting With Worms
This classroom composting experiment demonstrates why worms are called "nature's recyclers."

Compost Compilations!
Ah, the cycle of life. Using this lesson your students can witness the beauty of decay and rot in a compost bin. The lesson begins with a quick overview of the process of composting and a few tips on how to get started and maintain an active compost bin. Then students can observe and record quantitative and qualitative data about the compost from characteristics such as size and smell to composition and temperature. After recording the data students can take it back to the classroom to come up with appropriate ways to display and analyze the data for studying the wonderful world of decomposition and sharing the progress with the school. Not to be ignored will be a discussion on the benefits of composting and how to take the process home!

Cafeteria Compost
Students can create a compost pile in the schoolyard, using lunchroom food scraps and yard clippings while learning about composting.

Composting Lesson Plans
Gardening is one of the few subjects that can make students enjoy mud nearly as much as the flowers. Help students to understand how soil is created and recycled by creating a worm composting habitat.