In 1991 and 1992, John Leach, Bonnie Shapiro, and the author did a study in which they interviewed approximately 400 students from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States about their beliefs surrounding the decay of an apple over a year’s time. They found that children in all three countries had little understanding of the process of decay and almost totally ignored the role of microorganisms in the process. They believed that apples or any other previously living thing left on the ground miraculously turned to soil, were eaten by animals, or merely disappeared. Therefore, the main purpose of this story is to help students explore how decay breaks down organic material so that it can be recycled within its ecosystem.