1
Interdisciplinary Unit (IDU)
Making the environment a greener place by composting
Paul Warren
Hantsport School
Rationale:
The greening of the environment has become a major focus in recent years. In the past, many of the items and materials that were used by humans were considered garbage or trash after being partly consumed. The Earth has been burdened with making landfills to depose of such waste which provide harm to the environment and cost billions of dollars for transportation of the garbage to these sites.
Currently, many of the residents of Nova Scotia have made a conscious effort to increase the amount of greening that takes place in their province. Much of the items previously considered garbage have been labeled as reusable over and over again. Reduce, reuse, and recycle has been instilled and practiced in many homes, workplaces and schools. Major incentives, such as receiving refunds on the recycling of bottles, have been usedto encourage citizens to recycle. This campaign has had tremendous success on reducing the amount of bottles and cans that become trash.
An area of greening thatcitizens need to be more familiar with is composting. Composting is a process whereby organic material, such as food scraps and yard brush, are decomposed into rich humus. Humus is the dark organic material found in soil, which is produced by the decomposition of soils. Compostingis crucial to the action of reducing the amount of waste distributed into our environment. By composting, there is less trash, fewer landfills, and reduced costs for garbage collection. Not only will composting reduce the garbage output in students’ communities, but it also enhances the health of the earth’s soil.
Generally, if people are aware of the importance of changing the way things are done, they have a greater passion for taking action and working constructively towards improvement. In order to place more emphasis on composting, students need to become more aware of how composting can contribute to a greener environment and how they can play an active role in the process. By becoming educated in the area of composting, students will understand how food and plant waste is transformed into rich material used for growing new plants. The continuously cycle of growth, decay, and renewal will allow students to understand that nature’s cycle is crucial to a healthy environment. They will come to realize that many of the items they would normally throw in the garbage on a daily basis can becomposted. Simple compost methods, such as worm boxes, can be constructed and used by the students so they can help improve the condition of their environment and make the world a greener place to live.
The Learner
Everybody canplay an active role in reducing the amount of waste placed into the environment. Every individual can help create a cleaner environment with healthier vegetation. The learner should be aware of how the quality of the environment is dependent upon how it is treated. A healthier environment is possible when people become aware of how compost is formed by using everyday material that otherwise would normally be dumped into the environment as waste. The learner should establish a firm desire to help improve the quality of the environment by learning what should be composted, how the process works, and that everybody should be composting.
The Teacher
The teacher should have a passion for the environment and have a desire to instill that passion into their students. One of the greatest tools in teaching is leading by example. A teacher who regularly composts at home will have many experiences that can be shared with their students and great wisdom to pass on. The teacher is the facilitator of the learning process that takes place in the class setting. Therefore, the facilitator should strive to show and make the students more aware of the positive experiences that occur within the environment as a result of composting.
The Subject Matter
The ecosystem survives on the processes that involve decaying, recycling, and growth. The science of composting relies on living things, such as humans and microorganisms playingcritical roles in the process. Worms are extremely valuable to the process of decomposition.
In order to build a composter, knowledge of what can be composted, what conditions are best suited for composting, and how composting takes place, is necessary. Not everything that is edible can be composted. Knowing that there is a difference between waste, green and brown compost, is critical to eliminating the amount of garbage transported to landfill sites. There are many environmental factors that are necessary for maintaining healthy and active populations of living things. These include factors such as oxygen availability, pH of living conditions, and the temperature of the environment. It is important that the process of composting is examined so that the science underlying it, through decomposition, soil development, and natural recycling is understood.
The Classroom Climate
The classroom is extended to include real life situations that occur through natural processes in nature. Decay, decomposition, soil development, and natural recycling take place in nature. It is important that students recognize that the scientific concepts learned can be visible in the natural setting and they will have the opportunity to examine the environment for these processes.
Students should recognize that the Earth is their home and that it is important to protect it and keep it healthy. Within the classroom, they will discover that the entire Earth is not only their home, but a classroom full of learning experiences. Students will learn and discover the science of composting together. By observing the condition of the environment around them they will have a better sense of the need for improving the quality of it. As a group, they will challenge each other to compost daily and learn to do their part to keep the Earth a greener place.
The Community Context
A large portion of the yard waste and organic garbage that is currently thrown into the garbage can be composted. The new passion for making the environment a greener place should have a chain reaction through the students resulting in their parents becoming more aware of what they have learned. As students become knowledgeable of composting, discover the importance of composting and begin reducing waste, their parents and neighbors may ask questions and become conscientious of the environment. The people in the community will see how they have a critical role in greening and recognize that they can improve the quality of their environment together.
Principles of Learning
Humans should be participants in their learning. Once they are aware of aproblem, they ultimately should decide to come up with a reasonable plan to eliminate the crisis. Students learn best by using a constructivist-based approach, whereby they become active learners. It is important that students take what they learn and place it into practice. As students learn about composting and the science involved in the process, the goal is that they will become citizens who actively compost.
Aims/Outcomes/Objectives
Promote the use of scientific inquiry
Develop a sense of environmental stewardshipand an appreciation of the natural environment
Realize the importance of reducing the amount of waste placed into the environment
Describe the process of composting by understanding the concepts of decay, decomposition, soil development and natural recycling
Learn how to become active participants in reducing the amount of waste in your home, school and community
Understand the basic biological processes involved in decomposition
Learn how worms help in the breaking down of organic material
Develop, maintain and use a composter
Teaching and Learning
Students will learn about composting;that is, what to compost, how to compost and why to compost, by discovering the important scientific processes that need to occur for composting success. The curriculum is organized so that students will have an opportunity to learn upon their existing knowledge and delve deeper into the process of composting and see the results that transpire through taking part in a variety of activities.
The students will make use of their structured classroom but will also extend their learning zone to include the use of their larger classroom, the natural environment. Compost materials are found all around nature and it is important that they take the opportunity to experience this reality.
The resources for teaching and learning are listed throughout the strategies that are described below. The activities make use of resources that should be easily obtained by the majority of teachers who would be interested. These strategies have been complied as they teach and help students learn essential concepts with regard to composting. They should challenge students to become more passionate about composting and make it apart of their everyday lives. The strategies can be modified to suit different students’ needs and to reflect what is important to the teacher and class.
To begin a unit, it is always helpful if students have an opportunity to reflect upon what they already know. Students should have the opportunity to brainstorm as many thoughts as they can concerning the concepts “what is composting” and “how composting might help the Earth?” From this activity, students should begin to familiarize themselves with the idea that organic material is composted and that composting reduces the amount of waste placed into landfills.
It is important that students are able to distinguish between the “garbage” items they use daily that can be composted and those that can not be composted. Students should learn that organic materials are anything that is living, or once was living, or was produced by a living organism. As well, students should learn that compost materials should be separated into browns and greens. The browns are dead materialsthat are rich in carbon that helps decompose the material. The greens are the living materials which are rich in nitrogen that helps the microorganisms in decomposition, growth and reproduction. A great activity would be to list various materials on the whiteboard and have the students separate them into two categories: compost greens and compost browns. As an extension, it would be great for students to also categorize materials that can not be composted. The teacher may also bring in a variety of pictures such as vegetables, juice bottles, plants, etc. and have the students categorize each of these items. Allow the students to compare each others results and discuss why they placed various items into each category. Recognizing composting materials is one of the first steps in becoming an active participant in this process.
It is important that students have the opportunity to go out into nature and discover for themselves where decay and composting is naturally occurring and where it is not present. Students can take digital pictures as they experience decomposition occurring, such as when dead leaves fall off of trees. A walk through a natural setting should help the students understand how they can not escape the composting process. It is a natural environmental occurrence happening around them.
It is always exciting to show others what is being learned about composting. Students may be encouraged to make composting posters to share their knowledge by using all recyclable material, such as cereal boxes and old magazines in their promotion. As well, students can work together to create a bulletin board with the theme composting. This is a great opportunity for students to display what they have been actively learning in the curriculum and what it means to them.
Students can learn to become greener by slightly changing how they do things during the day. Challenge the students to record everyday for a week each item that they bring to school for lunch. What parts of their lunch can be composted? Are certain items reusable or recyclable, thus, preventing them from ending up in a landfill? At the end of the week compare the greenness of their Friday lunch to that of their Monday lunch. Did they make a conscientious effort to improve on their greening? It is extremely important that the students realize the important part that they play in making the world a greener place.
Students may or may not realize how many places in their community already compost. Ask the students to look around their community throughout the week while they are going about their daily activities and observe where compost containers are located. As well, they should consider where compost containers should be placed within the community but are not currently present. Discuss their insight as a class and come up with some possible strategies that could be used to promote composting in the community. Students may chose to write letters to town businesses or the town council, either commending them on their awareness of the need to compost or encouraging them to place containers at their respective sites.
There are several organisms that help in the decomposition process of composting. Students need to become familiar with these organisms as many use the organic material in the compost as a food source while others use it as a dwelling to capture other living things that they would like to eat. The organisms are responsible for breaking down the material through digestion, thus, changing it into a compost material. Show the students pictures of the invisible organisms, the hunters, the decomposers, and the fungi and explain their respective roles. Next, it would be beneficial to have the students examine a small amount of compost material in a container, looking for living things. Each student can remove any living things that are visible into another container. A magnifying glass will help students view the organisms up close so that they can observe how it moves, eats, etc. The students should also be encouraged to take a small portion of the compost and view it underneath a microscope so that smaller organisms can be spotted. Have the students make a sketch of each organism that they have spotted and then match them with the images the teacher would have prepared, so that they can be categorized into one of the four types of organisms.
Decomposers play a vital role in composting. By extending the classroom to include the natural setting the students will have an opportunity to locate decomposers, such as mushrooms and worms, which are present. Students can take digital images of each decomposer that they find and add them to their bulletin board display.
It is essential that every school promote making the environment a greener place. It would be worthwhile to build a worm bin (vericomposter) for each school. Before constructing the bin, teach the students how worms contribute to the decomposition process of organic material. Students may be encouraged to view worms through a magnifying glass and also learn how worms reproduce and digest material. The whole school can add organic waste to the worm bin and see for themselves how the decomposition process works.
Some of the factors that influence decomposition, such as oxygen availability and temperature should be discussed with the students. Students will learn that decomposition can occur both in environments with oxygen (aerobic) and without oxygen (anaerobic). Microorganisms rely on oxygen to survive and help speed up the process of decomposition. However, decomposition occurs without organisms present in anaerobic environments, but takes longer. Students may also wonder whether composting can occur within any season of the year. It would be beneficial to place the same amount of compost into three different areas (hot, warm, and cold) for a span of a couple weeks and then compare the amount of decomposition that has taken place. This would be a great opportunity for students to understand how temperature (seasons) affect decomposition. Allow the students to use scientific inquiry within this experiment as they would benefit in making modifications to the process to discover what may matter most about decomposition and composting.
It would be worthwhile to have students construct a small compost container for their own home. The students can observe the composting process as it moves through its stages of decomposition to develop into rich humus. Once the compost is finished, have each student plant a flower using the compost to show how the life cycle continues. Students could also observe the effect that compost has on the growing process through a controlled experiment. Allow students the opportunity to set up the experiment through their own eyes. One possible strategy students may attempt would be to grow three plants: one growing within 100% compost, another growing in 50% compost and 50% soil, and the other growing in 100% soil. Students could measure the length of each plant to make observations.