Identify and explain the four considerations for starting a compost pile
Analyze the benefits of different composting systems in terms of cost and efficiency
Explain how to start and maintain a compost pile
Learning Tasks for this Lesson
THINK: In your reflection journal, complete a thinking table of your current knowledge about building compost piles and your questions about building compost piles.
LEARN: Read and explore the required web sources. Complete a note taking guide to keep track of your learning.
SHARE: Using what you read in LEARN, participate in a discussion with your classmates to provide a recommendation for someone new to building a compost system.
REVIEW: Working with a group of classmates, create an artifact to share the basics of building composting systems.
THINK
Let's begin by thinking about what you already know about building a compost pile. Maybe you have helped add food scraps to the Leelanau compost pile. Maybe a family member has a compost pile at their home. Perhaps you have observed a commercial or community composting system in your hometown. Think about what you already know about the construction of compost piles. Then, think about what you want to learn about constructing a system for composting.
In your Reflection Journal on Google Classroom, you will see a thinking table with two columns. In the left column, list what you already know about the construction of compost piles. It is okay to be general, but please include specifics if you know a lot. In the right column, you will create a list of questions you have about building compost piles. Fill in the columns with both what you know and what you want to learn. Try to fill at least 1ten cells on this table in total. The number you include in each column in up to you.
This reflection is worth 5 points. Full credit will be given for 10 responses that are any combination of prior knowledge and questions.
LEARN
In this lesson, you are going to read and explore a series of online resources to learn about the construction of compost systems. There are many different styles of composting systems that vary in terms of cost, materials, size, and function. You will learn about these differences and how to compare the affordances of particular systems based on the desired function of the system. To help you navigate these resources, you will use a note taking guide. These guided notes, posted in Google Classroom, will help you capture the information from these resources and refer back to them later.
When your notes are complete, I will provide you with feedback on the note guide to make sure you found all of the information. This guide will help you in the coming assignments, so please do your best! You will earn up to 20 points for completion of this assignment.
SHARE
Mr. Chamberlin lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan in a house with a small backyard. His neighbor's is close to his house but he lives at the end of the block and his yard is close to the woods. He is thinking about starting a compost pile to give him somewhere to put his grass clippings when he mows the lawn and his brown leaves in the fall. He also wants to compost his kitchen scraps, such as banana peels, apple cores, eggs shells, and the peels from potatoes. He wants to use the compost to mulch his garden next summer.
Mr. Chamberlin is new to composting and he is looking for some advice. Head over to Google Classroom and find the Lesson 3 SHARE discussion to see how you can help.
REVIEW
For this REVIEW activity, you will work with a team to create a resource about building compost piles. You get to pick the intended audience for your resource and you can choose what the resource is. You will use the readings from this lesson, as well as other resources you choose, to complete this assignment.
Step 1: Your Team Your team will be determined based on your Family Advisory Unit number. Team 1 - FAUs 1-3 Team 2 - FAUs 4-6 Team 3 - FAUs 7 and 8
Step 2: The Doc Determine the member of your team who has the birthday earliest in the year. This person will make copy of this Doc and this rubric (also available on Google Classroom). You will submit your team's work through the Doc and provided your assessment through the rubric, so please make sure they are shared with everyone on your team and with me.
Step 3: The Resource You will work together to create a resource that teaches about building a composting system. You need to identify:
The audience (Who will use this resource? Teachers at a school? Families at home? Workers at a business?
The format (How will you display your information? A brochure that is meant to printed? An infographic that is meant to be read online? A video that is meant to be watched? Other ideas are fine - just let me know what you're thinking!)
The process (How will your team work together? How will you determine that the work is shared equally and ensure that everyone's ideas are heard? How will the work load be shared?)
The tools (What resources will you use? Do you need to complete some of your own research? How will you evaluate the quality of the resources you choose?)
The full criteria for this assignment are listed on this Rubric.
Step 4: The Assessments On the rubric, you will notice a Group Assessment component for this assignment. This means that you will self-assess your work before your submission. This is an opportunity to carefully review your work, consider your contribution, and make any changes before I give you feedback.
There are two self-assessments you need to complete: 1. The Group Assessment on the rubric 2. The Self-Assessment Form linked on the rubric
After you complete the assessments, I will give you feedback on your work using the rubric. You will then be able to review my feedback and make revisions before I evaluate your work and assign a grade.
Required Readings
“Building Your Compost Pile.” Wildlife Directory: Eastern Cottontail Living with Wildlife University of Illinois Extension, web.extension.illinois.edu/homecompost/building.cfm.
Bonhotal, Jean F, and Marianne E Krasny. “Composting: Waste to Resources.” Cornell Cooperative Extension, 1990. http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/compostingwastestoresources.pdf.