It isn’t difficult to find information about living more simply and sustainably these days, but hopefully the environment section of WoodsUp.com will provide unique and valuable resources for fourth through eighth grades teachers and parents.

Worm composting idea starter for teachers

Wiggling Worms at Work
Idea starter for teachers and parents

Worm composting is a fun way to introduce students to concepts such as waste, nutrient cycles, and habitats. Building a worm bin is easy to do, inexpensive and makes an easy addition to any classroom. Here are some ideas for what you can do with worms.

Elementary school
—Worm bins provide an excellent learning opportunity for waste. Students can learn about waste issues and how composting and recycling can reduce the amount of trash going into landfills

— Worm bins make a perfect addition to a school garden, which can be as small as a few potted plants or as big as a butterfly garden. Students can learn about soil food webs and the importance of compost and soil nutrient cycles.

Middle and high schools
— Students can perform plant studies, comparing compost with straight soil, potting mediums, and a mix of all three. Any annual plant can be started by seed in test pots and their growth monitored by the students. This provides an opportunity to learn about nutrient analysis and fodder for science projects.

— Middle and high school students can benefit greatly from a garden to table project. Students tend school gardens and the produce is used in the cafeteria and in home and consumer science classes. In addition to the garden, students could also be responsible for maintaining a worm bin as a source of compost. There are many wonderful resources for building school gardens such as, www.edibleschoolyard.org.

Where to find worm composting materials
The book, Worms Eat my Garbage by Mary Appelhof is the best resource on worm composting that we know of. She lays out everything one needs to know about starting and maintaining a worm bin. This book is available online through her Web site, www.wormwoman.com, where you can also find Red Wiggler composting worms, commercial composting units and more.

Also, don’t hesitate to contact us at White Violet Center for Eco-Justice. Call or email Candace Minster at 812-535-2935 or cminster@spsmw.org. She’ll be more than happy to answer any wormy inquiries.

Predators and prey

Be a pack hunter! Play predator/prey on the move. The predator moves. Prey must run to the safety of “home base.” As soon as the prey is caught, he can join the leader to form a pack and hunt more prey together.
From Teaching Kids to Love the Earth, by Marina Lachecki Herman, Joseph F. Passineau, Ann L. Schimpf and Paul Treuer

Place a dozen marbles around a small section of the lawn. Tell the players how many marbles have been hidden and give participants a time limit to find them. Discuss why some marbles were easy to find and other were more difficult. Talk about camouflage in the plant and animal world.
From Teaching Kids to Love the Earth, by Marina Lachecki Herman, Joseph F. Passineau, Ann L. Schimpf and Paul Treuer

Go to an area and talk about what animals live there. Determine who eats whom. Divide the group to represent each animal. Then play a game of tag — predators chasing their prey.

From Teaching Kids to Love the Earth, by Marina Lachecki Herman, Joseph F. Passineau, Ann L. Schimpf and Paul Treuer

Seed catalogue activity

Have enough seed catalogues for groups of four. Do a brief introduction to using the catalogues. Maybe even provide a sheet listing the steps for using them.

Each group selects a bed to plant. Decide how much area will be planted. Groups can take on half a bed or the beds can be split into quarters.

The groups must answer these questions:

1. What time of year can it be grown?
2. What is the optimum temperature for germination of your vegetable’s seeds?
3. Can we just put the seed into the ground or do we have to transplant it?
4. How far apart should they be planted?

When they are finished, each group must present their vegetable, variety and give their reasons for choosing that specific variety.
From French Fries and the Food System, by Sara Coblyn