AGRICULTURE Session 06: Composting
Learning Objectives
- Youth will build a composting bin to aid in understanding principles of vermiculture and to provide organic matter to amend garden soil.
- Identify organisms that are part of the composting process and be introduced to concepts of microbiology and discuss the role of diversity to environmental health.
Background:
Worm composting or vermicomposting, uses the digestive power of earthworms to consume and recycle kitchen waste and other organic matter to create a nutrient rich soil amendment called worm or vermi compost. Worm composting reduces the amount of garbage entering landfills and improves garden soils while providing a fun and rewarding hobby.
- Worm Facts: Did you know ?
There are 1800 species of terrestrial worms in the world. 30 % of the Earthworms in North America are non-native species from Europe. Including red wigglers (Eisenia fatida)
Earthworms breathe through their skin, so they have to come to the surface when it rains or risk drowning.Worms can move an amazing amount of soil for their small size. A worm can eat its own weight in soil in one day. Earth worms burrow through the soil creating channels that add oxygen to the soil and allow carbon dioxide to escape. The channels also allow rain to drain away. Worms eat soil and organic matter such as fallen leaves, mixing these ingredients together and then ‘poo’ them out. Some composting systems collect this ‘worm poo’ to make a rich fertile compost which can be added to potting mixes. Worm casts which are seen on the surface of lawns are made by 5 types of worms, called casting worms. Mostly found from autumn to spring, these casts are by-products of eating (i.e. worm poo!). If you accidentally cut a worm in two, only the head end will regenerate and survive assuming the damage isn’t too extreme. Earthworms range in length from a tiny one millimeter to a massive three meters. Worms do not have eyes and prefer the dark. They can sense light and dark and prefer dark conditions because they are easily damaged by UV rays and will dry out quickly. Famously hermaphroditic, earthworms are both male and female in one body, though it still takes two worms to reproduce.
Materials and Resources:
Worm Composting
Atlas Organics
1.Red Wigglers (Eisenia fatida)
2.Paper Plate
3.Newspaper
4.Collected soil
5. 2 liter plastic bottle
6.scissors
7.shredded paper
8.potting soil
9.Veggie scraps
10.Magnifying glass
11. tape
Opening Activity: ~15 minutes
Worm investigation:
1. Plate with a worm on it where they will observe for measurements
2.Identify body parts using worksheets; worm worksheets
3.Light and moisture experiments
Content Lesson and Activities: ~60 minutes
Build their own worm bin (red wigglers).
Virtual adaptation: Compost critter exploration; they are going to collect soil samples in their yard and they are going to spread the soil in a paper towel. They will use a magnifying glass to move through the soil and pick out anything they find (stone, warm, etc.)
Step by step:
The worm farm is made using a clean plastic 2 liter bottle. Cover your work space with newspaper for easier clean up later.
1. Cut a little opening in the upper third of the bottle large enough so that youth can add materials and food scraps.
2. Poke some very small holes all around the base of the bottle; about an inch up from the bottom. This allows for air circulation and drainage. You don’t want worms to drown 🙂
3. Add about 6 inches of potting soil from your kit. Tap the bottle to help the soil settle but don’t pack it down.
4. Add a layer of shredded paper about 2 inches and then spray it until it is damp. Add another layer of soil (2 inches) and spray to dampen then add a final layer of shredded paper on top of that. Spray to dampen.
5. Add your worms.
6. Cover them with the food scraps (lettuce, peelings, cut up veggies)
7. Use the dark construction paper or newspaper to wrap the 2 liter bottle below the opening you cut. The worms like it dark. Make sure you can slide the cover easily up and down the bottle so you can remove it to observe your worms. Leave the cover on when you are not observing the worms.
8. Keep your worm farm moist but don’t over water or your worms could drown. Tip: don’t water your worm bin again until the paper dries out.
Closing Activity: ~15 minutes
Journal Prompt :
1. How important are the earth warms to the soil?
Career connection: http://www.atlasorganics.net/
Adapted from Worms eat my garbage, Appelhof & Fenton, Flowerfield Enterprises, 2007