Field Trips
They say composting happens. That's because it's an essential part of life. There's no stopping it; it's happening all the time. Whether it's people or nature in charge of the compost pile, get out and check it out to learn how compost happens.
Commercial Composting
Not every community has a commercial composting facility, but more and more are springing up across the country. You can look up compost in the yellow pages or call your local government office of solid waste management. Ask if your community composts and what the rules are if it does. If there is no composting program, ask why not. Hopefully, you do have a local facility to visit. Compost facilities are happy to teach students about the process. An educator can often come to your classroom prior to a field trip to teach your students all about the basics of commercial composting. Then they'll take you on a guided tour of the facility to show you the dirty details of composting!
According to Resource Recycling, if people composted the 21.5 million tons of food scraps created every year instead of sending it to the landfill, it would result in the same decrease in greenhouse gas emissions as taking more than 2 million cars off the road.
Nature's Recycling Program
Take a field trip to a nearby forest or woodland and check out how nature handles composting. Have the students examine the forest floor to see how leaves, twigs, and other organic material are decomposing. Bring small hand trowels, large white sheets of paper, and magnifying glasses so the children can dig and discover. Placing small amounts of material on the white paper makes it easier to identify what's happening. Have them discuss what they see and think about the process of decomposition. Help facilitate the breakdown of materials with a decomposition craft.
Each child will need a small piece of white cloth (a sturdy cotton linen works best). Get permission to have them gather plants in a variety of different colors from the forest. Then you'll need a hard surface, like an asphalt path, and each child will need a good-sized rock that they can easily hold. Each child should put their fabric down on the hard surface and then place a leaf or flower on the fabric. Using the rock to hit the plant, they can create a “painting” using the pigment that comes out of the plant when it is struck. What colors do the different plants leave behind? What happens to the smooshed plants? Sprinkle all the leftover compost back onto the forest floor. It is well on its way to decomposing!
