Lunch Duty With Worms

I have a worm bin at home. I do Lunch Duty at school. I read this article.....hmmmmm. Thinking this might be a great project hext school year. Very interesting article!

A Year Long Lesson in Composting

The information provided in this article is stated as for 5th grade. However, the activities presented would be appropriate for all grades, pre-K to 12 with modifications. The article prese... See More

The information provided in this article is stated as for 5th grade. However, the activities presented would be appropriate for all grades, pre-K to 12 with modifications. The article presented an ongoing lesson on red wiggler worms and composting. This would not be practical in my science classroom due to time constraints. However, this would be a great science club activity. The article provides some information on worm composting. Additional resources would be necessary to complete the activities in the classroom, such as troubleshooting information. Overall, a great way to encourage the development of scientific processing skills with an environmental theme.

Get started with vermicomposting

This article is useful as a primer about where to begin with composting. There are many useful suggestions, and students could in do research to design their own bins as an experiment. Some ... See More

This article is useful as a primer about where to begin with composting. There are many useful suggestions, and students could in do research to design their own bins as an experiment. Some of the suggestions listed are very good; others, like lining the bin with screen, and the amount of bedding are less valuable. But they are potentially the beginning of the story, and engineering a better worm bin. It also alludes that worms eat the food, but perhaps this is another opportunity for experimentation. The article does a nice job of providing a qualitative discussion of vermicomposting. I would probably work in groups of at least 3, and possibly 5 students. There are also many open-ended extensions. The time for some activities, like building the bin, is over-estimated. I would start out with a this project at the beginning of the year, and then run the experiment for at least a semester. You will need a little time to do the measurements through the course of the project, but in the long run, having students participate in the long-term experiment is definitely worth it.