Download Lesson 8 Good Garden Soil

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Lesson 8
Good Garden Soil
TEACHER PLANNING NOTES:
(1) This lesson can be taught in separate sections as follows:
CIRCLE/LINE/READING TIME:
Introduction; Making Compost
MUSIC AND MOVEMENT TIME:
Song
Alternatively, the sections can be taught without a break between them if
scheduling allows.
(2) Words marked with an asterisk (*) are key words that have been translated into
Spanish and French. These lists of translated words are located in the back of this
teacher’s resource manual. You may use these translated words in the classroom
with the lessons and activities and/or post them on your classroom Word Wall.
Objectives:
In this lesson, children will:
• Understand what compost is
• Understand that soil can be enriched with
composted materials
• Identify materials that make good compost
• Make a small amount of compost
Materials:
• The decomposing banana peel in the plastic
bag filled with potting mix (from Lesson 6)
• A pair of adult gloves
• One half-gallon milk carton, cleaned, with
the top stapled or taped and a flap
measuring about 5 inches wide and 3 inches
high cut into one of the sides
• Materials for composting in the milk
carton: (1) uncooked kitchen scraps, such as
the peelings, cores, and seeds of vegetable
and/or fruits [no scraps from animal
sources]; (2) fresh grass clippings, weeds,
and/or green leaves; (3) brown dried-up
leaves, small pieces of bark, pine needles,
and/or shredded newspaper; (4) about 1
cup of topsoil
• A plastic tablecloth, sheets of plastic,
newspapers, or butcher paper to work on
while mixing the compost materials
• Small plastic shovels or metal spoons
INTRODUCTION (1 minute)
☺ Ask children what they think most people do with the peel of a banana after they eat the
☺
banana. (Throw it away)
☺
☺ Remind them of the banana peel you put in potting mix* in a bag on the day they
planted seeds*. Tell them to think about what the peel looked like at that time.
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MAKING COMPOST (16 minutes)
☺
☺ With gloves on, take the peel from the bag and ask children to make observations on how
it has changed. Tell children they will look at the peel again many days from now to see what
other changes have happened.
The complete decomposition of the banana will take three to five
weeks. Continue to occasionally shake the bag gently and to add a
small amount of moisture to the soil when it is beginning to look dry.
☺ Explain the process of decay and its relation to humus* and rich soil*.
❖ Something important has been happening to the peel: Living things in the soil
have been making the peel break down into smaller and smaller pieces. These
living things are so tiny they can only be seen with special tools.
❖ We use a special word to name what is happening to the banana peel. That word
is decay. [Have children repeat the word decay a few times.] This banana peel is
decaying.
❖ You’ve learned that plants* grow better in soil that has a lot of humus in it. What
is humus? (Little pieces of dried brown leaves* and old twigs*) That’s why we
planted cilantro seeds in potting mix—because there’s a lot of humus in potting
mix. And that’s why gardeners* like humus to be in the soil in their garden*.
❖ Did you know that gardeners can make a special kind of humus to put in their
garden? It’s called compost*. [Have children repeat the word compost a few times.]
And we can make it too.
❖ Let’s find out what you need to make compost and how you make it.
☺ Tell children that a gardener usually makes compost in large amounts but that they are
going to make a small amount. Show them the milk carton they will make compost in.
☺ Guide children to make the compost “pile” by doing the following:
• Mix together materials that will provide carbon content: brown dried-up leaves, small
pieces of bark, pine needles, and/or shredded newspaper.
• In a separate pile, mix together materials that will provide nitrogen content: fresh grass
clippings, weeds, and/or pieces of green leaves. Mix in a similar amount of uncooked
kitchen scraps, such as the peelings, cores, and seeds of vegetable and/or fruits. (Do not
include scraps from animal sources.)
• In the milk carton, alternate layers of the carbon content mixture, the nitrogen content
mixture, and the topsoil until the carton is about 3/4 full.
• Gently stir the completed mixture then lightly water it.
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☺ Have children wash their hands thoroughly.
☺ Point out that composting is a good way to recycle the parts of fruits* and vegetables* that
people cannot eat. Explain that when these parts are recycled, they are not wasted by being
thrown into the trash.
☺ Explain that the materials they have put in the milk carton will take three or four weeks to
break down, or decay, and become compost. Point out that since the living creatures that are
breaking down the materials need water* and air*, every once in a while children will need to
do two things: stir the mixture so that more air can get into it, and add a small amount of
water.
☺ Ask children what they think the mixture will look like after it turns into compost.
(Possible answers: like dirt; like soil; like mud) Encourage them to remember what it looks
like now so they can compare it to what it looks like later.
FOLLOW-UP TO THIS ACTIVITY:
❖ Periodically have children observe and describe the decaying banana peel. (Have
them use hand lenses, if available.)
❖ During the next three to four weeks, whenever the composting materials are
beginning to look dry, have children stir them and add just enough water to keep
the mixture moist. (If too much water is added, unpleasant odors may develop.)
❖ When the compost is ready, it will be dark and crumbly and have the appearance
of rich soil. After children have verbally compared the finished compost to the
original mixture of materials, have them add it to soil in a garden or potted plant.
Remind them that the compost will make the soil better—and that better soil
means that plants will grow better.
SONG (6 minutes)
☺ Tell children they have learned so much about growing plants in a garden that they really
☺
are Garden Kids.
☺ Ask children if they remember the song called “Garden Kids at Work.” Remind them that
☺
the song is about what you do first, then next, then next to grow plants to get food.
☺ Have children sing only the first two verses of the three verses shown below. Have them
☺
mime the action of “putting tiny seeds in soil” while singing the first verse and the action of
“watering the plants” while singing the second verse.
☺ Tell children that since now they know more things you do to grow plants to get food,
☺
they are going to learn a new part of the song.
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❖ You’ve learned that we can make soil better by adding something to it. What can
we add and mix into the soil to make it better? (Compost) And when the soil is
better, the plants will grow better.
❖ Let’s sing a new part of this song. The new part is about adding compost to the
soil.
☺ Teach children the third verse (shown below.) Have them mime the action of “adding
compost to the soil” while singing it. Then have them sing the three verses together.
Song: “Garden Kids at Work” [Notes: (1) Underlined, boldfaced words and syllables are
the strong beats and should be given the most stress. (2) This should be sung at a lively
pace. (3) Children will learn one additional verse to this song in Lesson 10.]
(sung to the tune of “My Darling Clementine”)
In the garden
We are working,
Putting tiny seeds in soil.
In the garden
We are working,
Putting tiny seeds in soil.
In the garden
We are working,
We are watering the plants.
In the garden
We are working,
We are watering the plants.
In the garden
We are working,
Adding compost to the soil.
In the garden
We are working,
Adding compost to the soil.
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
♥ Have children individually make an even smaller amount of compost they can observe.
Each child should put air holes in a re-sealable plastic bag then fill the bag about 3/4 full
with the same materials listed in the lesson. They should add a small amount of moisture,
close the bag, and gently shake it.
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During the next few weeks, whenever the composting materials are beginning to look
dry, have children shake their bag and add just enough water to keep the mixture moist.
When the compost is ready, children can mix it with topsoil and put seeds in the mixture to
grow their own plant.
♥ Take children to a community, school, or private garden where a compost bin or pile is
found. With a shovel or gardening fork, take away a portion of the top layer so that children
can see and make observations about lower layers. Ask them to identify any recognizable
materials that are being composted. (Note: Make sure that the compost has been recently
watered before removing the top layer in order to avoid exposure to airborne organisms.)
♥ If your school has a garden and compost bin or pile, have children recycle usable food
scraps by adding them to the composting materials.
♥ Guide children to create a compost bin or pile near your school building. Easy-to-follow
instructions can be found on a Cornell University web page at
http://compost.css.cornell.edu/outdoorbest.html
♥ Send a note home encouraging parents to start a small composting pile with their child.
Include simple instructions and/or the Cornell University web page URL mentioned above.
♥ If you have chosen to display an alphabet of gardening-related words, add the following
word while emphasizing its initial sound: compost. Have children repeat the word as you
write it next to the appropriate letter.
CURRICULUM CONNECTORS
MATH/SCIENCE CENTER: Materials: Copies of the “What Can We Use to Make Compost?”
worksheet, located in the Coloring Activities section. Task: Children circle items that can be
used to make good compost and draw an X on items that cannot be used. Then they count
to determine whether there are more items that can or cannot be used.
MATH/SCIENCE CENTER or LANGUAGE CENTER: Task: Children working in pairs describe
how they would make their own compost pile, and what they would use to make it, if they
had their own garden.
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♥ Lesson 8 ♥ Good Garden Soil
What Can We Use to Make Compost?
(for Curriculum Connector activities)
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