1. Which of the following things help to take care of the environment? (Circle 3)

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1 Pre-Visit Activity 1. Which of the following things help to take care of the environment? (Circle 3) 2. A habitat is the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally lives or grows. Which of these animals is in the correct habitat? (Circle 1) 3. Plants need sunlight to grow. Many animals eat plants. Other animals eat the animals that ate plants. This is called a food chain. Order the food chain below by drawing an arrow from one step to the next. START Bonus: What do you think will happen in the food chain if pollution blocks the sunlight?

2 Teacher Copy Pre-Visit Activity 1. Which of the following things help to take care of the environment? (Circle 3) 2. A habitat is the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally lives or grows. Which of these animals is in the correct habitat? (Circle 1) 3. Plants need sunlight to grow. Many animals eat plants. Other animals eat the animals that ate plants. This is called a food chain. Order the food chain below by drawing an arrow from one step to the next. START Bonus: What do you think will happen in the food chain if pollution blocks the sunlight? The plants won t grow without sunlight and so there won t be food for the animals.

3 Composting is a great way to turn food scraps into healthy soil to use for a garden. Circle the 9 things that should go into the compost bin: Compost Bin: Layer with dry and moist organic matter, & green manure. What can you do to help the environment?

4 Teacher Copy Composting is a great way to turn food scraps into healthy soil to use for a garden. Circle the 9 things that should go into the compost bin: What can you do to help the environment? Answers vary: recycle, reduce use of disposable items, re-use disposable items, compost food wastes, turn off lights and other electronic devices when not in use, use less water, pick up litter, make a rain garden, use green energy (solar panels), reduce fossil fuel emissions by carpooling, etc.

5 Make a Plastic Bottle Composter Materials: Empty two-liter plastic bottle for each student Scissors/Craft Knife (for teacher) Nail or needle & matches/candle (for teacher) Packing tape Soil, 2 cups per student & scoops/funnels Earthworms, 2-3 per student Shredded paper or small broken stick pieces Grass clippings, vegetable scraps, dried leaves Spray bottle with water Steps: 1.) Fill the bottle with warm water and allow to sit a few minutes. The label will peel off when the warmth loosens the glue. 2.) Plastic bottles need to be pre-cut for younger students. Use the craft knife to cut a slit near the top of the bottle (see picture). Use the knife or scissors to cup the top, leaving about a 1 inch section as a hinge. The cut seam may be jagged it can be covered with tape or children can wear gloves. 3.) Make small holes about 1-2 inches apart all over the bottle. This can be easily done by heating a nail or needle over a flame. This may need to be done by an adult.

6 Make a Plastic Bottle Composter, continued Steps: 4.) Each student may scoop 2 cups of soil into their bottle composter. The purpose of the soil is that in order for the compostable materials to be recycled there must be bacteria present to eat/recycle this. The bacteria are found in soil. 5.) Each student places a handful of shredded paper or small twig pieces in the bottle. 6.) Each student places their worms into the bottle. 7.) Students add grass clippings or vegetable scraps, then spray the contents of the bottle with water. 8.) Repeat layers if desired, then close the lid and seal with tape. Set someplace out of the sun and rain. More to Do: Monitor how long it takes for the vegetable scraps/clippings to break down. Mark the layers on the outside of the bottle with permanent marker and record the date the experiment began. Each week, observe the bottle and measure how far from the original marks the layers have moved, record. Use a meat thermometer in one of the holes to measure the temperature of the compost and record it daily, or weekly. For more detailed experiments with plastic bottle composters, visit: References: %20ER.pdf