Habitat
Helpers
1-5
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?
Habitat
Helpers
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.
Habitat
Helpers
1-5
after-Visit Activity
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?
Habitat
Helpers
Teacher
Copy
after-Visit Activity
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.
Habitat
Helpers
1-5
after-Visit Activity
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.
Habitat
Helpers
1-5
after-Visit Activity
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:
http://teams.lacoe.edu/documentation/classrooms/gary/plants/activities/articles/composting.html
http://www.bottlebiology.org/investigations/decomp_main.html
References:
http://compost.css.cornell.edu/soda.html
https://www.gov.je/SiteCollectionDocuments/Environment%20and%20greener%20living/ID%20CompostInABottle%
20291209%20ER.pdf