The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

Decomposition and Observation - A Lesson in Composting

Decomposition and Observation - A Lesson in Composting

A 1st grade STEM lesson

Ariana Zindars

4/12/23

Notes for teachers

Students will grow to understand what decomposition is and why it matters in their compost bin. This lesson should be completed after a basic knowledge of composting has already been built or they have experience with composting.

List of Materials

• Clear Ziploc Bags
• Organic matter scraps (such as food scraps - no meat or dairy)
• Non-organic matter (such as plastic spoons)
• Observation Sheet
• Compost Stew book

Standards

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Science:

1.E1U1.5 Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the properties of Earth materials and investigate how humans use natural resources in everyday life.

Core Ideas

E1: The composition of the Earth and its atmosphere and the natural and human processes occurring within them shape the Earth’s surface and its climate

L1: Organisms are organized on a cellular basis and have a finite life span

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ELA:

1.RI.10 With prompting and support, read informational texts, including functional texts, history/social studies, science, and technical texts, appropriately complex for grade 1.

Objective:

Throughout the observation period, students will observe and understand the process of decomposition of organic and non-organic matter.

Agenda

The lesson is meant to be used as one initial lesson with 3-4 weeks of observation following that.

Intro Lesson:

30-40 minutes

Observation Periods:

15-20 minutes (weekly or bi-weekly)

Intro

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Introduce driving question: How can we use everyday organic and nonorganic items in our compost?

Read the story, Compost Stew

Ask students:

What happens to our extra food scraps that we throw away? Where do they go? Do they disappear on their own?

What happens when we throw styrofoam or plastic away? How long would that take to go away?

Hands-on Activity Instructions

Teacher should prepare 4-5 sets of bags. Collect things like bread, food scraps, styrofoam, etc. Place one piece of each in 2 different ziploc bags. After, add ½ cup of moist soil to one of the bags and then label A and B. (no soil - control)

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After reading compost stew and discussing what things go in a perfect compost stew, explain that students will get to observe the way things break down over the next few weeks.

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Go over what is in each of the bags and explain the contents and how one will be a control. After explaining, pass out student observation sheets to students and let them make their initial observations of each of the bags and record their findings and make predictions about what the item will look like in a week.

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Repeat the observation process at least once a week for 4 weeks and record.

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Technology inclusion: If you have the devices available, have students take pictures of the bags so they can refer back to them in comparison.

Assessment

At the end of the 4 weeks, have students decide, what would be the best types of items for our compost? Non-organic or organic? Why?

Encourage students to utilize their reflection sheet and pictures from the past 4 weeks.

Assessment:

Have students make a list of 5 things they would include in their “compost soup”. To show understanding, items should be all organic materials.

Differentiation

• Allow students to work in groups when making observations
• Make observations whole group and complete response together

Remediation

Extension

If additional time allows, hang bags in different places and continue observation.

• light/dark
• warm/cool

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Students can create their own compost baggies to experiment with the materials they suggested.

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Students can start a school compost bin/garden.