Lesson Description:
Students will be able to...

• Identify soil as consisting of weathered rock and decomposed organic material.
• Explain the benefits of composting to improve soil quality and describe the balance required between brown/carbon-producing materials and green/nitrogen-producing materials.
• Use the concept of ratio to represent quantitative relationships.

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Lesson Type:

• Project

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Sustainability Topic:

• Gardening

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GEF Program Category:

• Green Thumb Challenge

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Standards Addressed:
Science Standard 2: Understand Earth’s composition and structure.

• Benchmark # 3: Know components of soil and other factors that influence soil texture, fertility, and resistance to erosion.

Science Standard 5: Understand the structure and function of cells and organisms.

• Benchmark # 9: Know that cells use inorganic compounds (e.g., minerals, water) to make materials that the cells or organism needs.

Science Standard 6: Understand relationships among organisms and their physical environment.

• Benchmark # 5: Know how matter is recycled within ecosystems (e.g., matter is transferred from one organism to another repeatedly, and between organisms and their physical environment; the total amount of matter remains the same, even though its form and location change).

Mathematics Standard 2: Understand and apply basic and advanced properties of the concepts of numbers.

• Benchmark # 1: Understand the relationship between equivalent number representations (e.g., ratios) and the advantages and disadvantages of this type of representation.
• Benchmark # 9: Understand the concepts of ratio, proportion and percent and the relationships among them.

Mathematics Standard 3: Uses basic and advanced procedures while performing the processes of computation.

• Benchmark # 6: Use proportional reasoning to solve mathematical and real-world problems (e.g., involving ratios and proportions).

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Lesson Documents:
Composting the Right Mix.Lesson.pdf

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Lesson Documents:
Composting_Worksheet.pdf

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