Studying Recycling in Nature

The study of plants and gardening is a fun, dirty, hands-on way for students to learn conservation, biology, ecology, and responsibility. With the right soil, water, and sunlight, seeds will sprout into plants every time. Students can watch these sprouts grow into plants that are important for human survival. Even unsuccessful class gardening attempts will teach important lessons about what every plant needs to survive and the responsibility required to cultivate plants. During a study of gardening, students are often asked to keep detailed field journals of their activities. These careful observations will allow students to discover how plants effectively recycle and re-use their resources, an important ecology lesson.

As Americans are revving up for this year’s holiday season, some are planning to celebrate America Recycles Day on November 15th. In honor of this day, I am presenting resources to help students study recycling through the lens of gardening and composting. Although the push for recycling in the United States has only been prominent for the last 30 years or so, recycling has always been an important theme in the natural world. There is much to be learned from the efficiency of this process in nature. Students can learn a lot by experimenting with composting. Student composting projects have the added benefit of reducing a school’s waste and teaching important lessons in ecological stewardship and community service.

If you want to start a compost bin with your students, be sure to read Best Ever Compost, an easy to read and follow guide from Cornell University with tips and steps for starting a successful and educational compost bin at your school. If you are looking to study the natural processes of decay and recycling but are unable to start an outdoor compost bin, consider creating several jars of waste for your students to observe as they decay over time. Trash Disposal Choices allows students to hone their observation skills as they witness a small scale model of how different types of waste decay.

Worms are nature’s ultimate recyclers, and they are very intriguing to even the youngest students. ReadWriteThink’s lesson plan, Digging Up Worms guides students to discover more about these amazing animals through inquiry-based activities. I like how the resource uses students’ natural curiosity to drive the questions and answers they find.

To better understand what happens to the waste we throw away, students can easily navigate The Rotten Truth About Garbage, an online museum exhibit that takes them through the different paths our garbage goes through after we toss it. This exhibit was featured along with some other relevant resources in Talkin’ Trash, one of Joann’s posts from 2010. Recycle911 also has good information about recycling and composting along with neat ideas for re-using items instead of throwing them out.

Most teachers who are introducing gardening and composting for the first time will want to start with small scale activities, but for those of you looking to implement a bigger program at your school, check out Community Garden. This resource will give you inspiration on how to use a student-run garden to impact your community and teach important biology and service learning lessons along the way.