Restore: Soil 2017-2019

What Students are Doing:

Our third grade students, with the help of parents and teachers, constructed a compost bin. The students consistently add garden scraps, such as apple cares, banana peels and over ripened garden produce, leaves and other compostable, organic material to the compost as needed. The students participate in lessons that teach the difference in materials that will decompose versus materials that will not, such as a banana peel and a water bottle. This will help enforce the idea that some items can be composted, while other materials cannot be.

What Students are Learning:

Students are learning about landfills and how much of our trash can be composted instead. Students will observe decomposers in action and see how they play a part in the food chain. By having an outdoor composter, the students will be able to see the full cycle of how organic material will turn back into a very healthy soil.

How Students Teach Others:

Our school cafeteria participates in the Smart Recycling program. While students do their part in separating the materials, they are not able to take part in the decomposition process. The third graders bring the younger students to show the compost bin and explain what happens when their own table scraps are sent off with the Smart Recycling program. Students are able to see the final product and use it in the gardens.