Rotting Away, Day by Day
Provided by: FoodCorps|Published on: May 24, 2024|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 5
Type: Lesson Plans
Subjects: Science
Authors: FoodCorps
Location: Earth
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- In this 5th-grade lesson, students will learn about decomposition, make predictions about how different objects decompose over time, and test their predictions by buring various items for a period of time.
- It is divided into two sessions and can be adapted for various situations.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- Students will enjoy digging in the dirt and feeling connected to nature.
- The lesson includes many adaptations and extensions.
Prerequisites
- Teachers will have to prepare and gather materials ahead of time and search for the FBI song online.
- This lesson is designed for a class garden but it can be done in any natural environment.
- Students should know how to safely use a trowel or cup to dig.
- Students should know the terms decompose and spectrum.
Differentiation & Implementation
- This lesson was written for a push-in teacher from Food Corps. There are tips for the Food Corps instructor to engage the classroom teacher. Classroom teachers can use this lesson, and the tips may be useful for engaging a student-teacher or co-teacher.
- After doing this lesson, students can discuss composting and create a classroom compost system.
- Teachers can use this lesson to introduce the role of decomposition in the carbon cycle and the huge importance of this as it relates to the effects of human activity on climate change.
- Students can make connections to poetry by writing poems to describe how their objects have changed.
- When students write their predictions, they can do so using a Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning model and supporting their theories with facts and understanding.
- Teachers can choose to have students observe garbage that will not decompose and discuss the importance of limiting waste and pollution.
In this activity, students will learn about decomposition and the factors that impact decomposition rates. Factors can include many things, including weather and climate. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
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