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Vermicomposting in Grade 5

Vision

Through vermicomposting, we want to promote the importance of composting within our school community.

Action

Through vermicomposting, the children will explore, create and maintain a healthy living environment for worms. Through research as well as trial and error, students will discover what works best for our worms. The class will share their findings with the school community as well as make informational posters to be placed around the school to encourage composting.

Reflection & Celebration

By having the worms in the class, students have developed an understanding that composting is not only important for our worms but it also beneficial for us and the Earth. We have developed a school-wide compost awareness campaign through creating posters and placing them in different parts of the school. Luckily, our school already has a compost bin and since our campaign its use has increased. Fellow staff members have also begun to bring in organic waste from home to help support our worms. As a class, we have started our own composting bin to not only reduce the daily waste we produce but to also provide food for the worms. Worm duties such as spraying their soil with water and feeding them have been shared amongst the class. We have a schedule developed for students to remember who is responsible for what task on any given day. We have learned that our worms, red wigglers, are surprisingly picky creatures. They need their bedding to maintain a certain ph level, require distilled water and they love banana peels! A student had questioned if the worm castings in the soil would produce plants quicker. To help answer that question the class then decided that they wanted to see which soil would be better for growing plants. We have set up an experiment to see if beans would grow quicker in soil from our vermicomposting bin or store bought soil. Feeling inspired about reducing waste, we also picked up litter along a popular walking trail in our area. With the school year coming to an end, I plan on maintaining the vermicomposting bin for next year. I will introduce my next class to the world of worms. My hope is that with the development of our school’s greenhouse that we are able to harvest our casting rich soil to be used to help grow plants. Our vermicomposting experience has been such a beneficial project, not only are we helping the environment because it reduces the amount of waste going to the landfill but we have also learned to work together as a team to help support and take care of our worms.

4. Quality Education
12. Responsible Consumption and Production
13. Climate Action
15. Life on Land
17. Partnerships for the Goals
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