Lesson Title
Target Grade Level / Age Range:
K-2nd grade
Time:
45-60minutes
Purpose/Objective:
Students will be introduced to composting and vermicomposting and how it impacts the health
of our soil.
Materials:







Vermicompost bin
Red wiggler poster (basic part ID) (Page 2 of Tip Sheet)
Magnifying glasses
Water bottle
Paper towels
Food scraps
Live red wiggler worms (for sale in Iowa here: http://urbanwormcompany.com/business/iowaworm-composting/)
Suggested Companion Resources (books, websites, etc.)










Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
There’s a Hair in My Dirt
Magic School Bus Meets Rot Squad
Wiggling Worms at Work
Compost Stew
Worms are Gross
Earthworms: Underground Farmers
Dirt You Made My Lunch song by Banana Slug String Band https://youtu.be/MwgP2gCzSC4
Tip Sheet: https://earthmatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tipsheet-worm-facts.pdf
Red Wiggler ID Video: https://youtu.be/Yorcjo3zQJ0
Vocabulary (with definitions)


Composting: make vegetable matter or manure into compost
Compost: a mixture of decayed or decaying organic matter used to fertilize soil

Vermicomposting: process of composting using worms to create a mixture of decomposing
vegetable waste, bedding materials, and vermicast
Interest Approach or Motivator:
Have students examine real red wiggler worms and feed them with food scraps.
Background – Agricultural Connections (what would a teacher need to
know before teaching this lesson):
A basic understanding of how a composting “bin” works, vermicomposting is simply adding red wiggler
worms to help speed up this process. Having some discussion on nature’s recyclers, decomposition and
worm “anatomy” is helpful but not required.
I have used this lesson in classrooms where background knowledge was strong AND where background
knowledge was minimal…..and both types of lessons go very well. Students LOVE touching, seeing,
watching the worms in real life. Teachers enjoy the opportunity to adopt the bin for a few weeks so
students can see the compost cycle happen.
Procedures (outline the main points, step by step activities, and the full
content to be presented to students)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
What is compost (ing)? (break down definition from above—discuss to understanding of
nature’s way of recycling)
What is vermicompost? (nature’s way of recycling….using the red wigglers in a
traveling/contained space)
Using worm poster—introduce worm parts (head, tail, front, back, mouth, gizzard, saddle,
segments----discuss how it functions in the soil (eat—poo—soil!), how it breaths (rain),
light/heat sensitivity, how it helps the soil breathe ---discuss food options (introduced in steps 1
and 2 also)
Discuss how vermicompost bin is set up—how it begins—how it works
Open bin and prep to pass out worms—fragile—looking with magnifying glasses to ID parts
discussed above—will keep wet via water bottle squirts by teacher
Watch and respond as students engage and interact with the red wigglers and each other. (1020 minutes)
Return worms to bin—discuss observations—questions
Feed worms from teacher collect scraps (or collect scraps from a class snack or lunch and discuss
what can/ can’t be fed to worms)
Book and song can be used before and/or after alternatively according to time etc.
Essential Files (maps, charts, pictures, or documents)

Worm anatomy poster
Extension Activities (how can students extend learning outside of the
classroom? This could include assignments they do outside of class.)


Journal the bin changes over a period of time
Present/share info with buddy classrooms on campus—family members
Author(s)
Jamie Meek
National Agriculture Literacy Outcomes


Plants and Aniamls for Food, Fiber and Energy Outcomes (K-2nd: Identify the importance of
natural resources—sun, soil, water, minerals—in farming
Plants and Animals for Food, Fiber and Energy Outcomes (Grades 3rd-5th : Understand the
concept of stewardship and identify ways farmers care for soil, water, plants and animals
Next Generation Science Standards



2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different
habitats. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the diversity of living things in each of a variety
of different habitats.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include specific animal and
plant names in specific habitats.]
3-LS1-1. Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all
have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death. [Clarification Statement: Changes
organisms go through during their life form a pattern.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of
plant life cycles is limited to those of flowering plants. Assessment does not include details of
human reproduction.]
3-LS3-2. Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the
environment. [Clarification Statement: Examples of the environment affecting a trait could
include normally tall plants grown with insufficient water are stunted; and, a pet dog that is
given too much food and little exercise may become overweight.]
Iowa Common Standards (Essential Concepts and Skills)



S.K–2.SI.1
Essential Concept and/or Skill: Ask questions about objects, organisms, and events in the
environment. Students should answer their questions by seeking information from their own
observations, investigations and from reliable sources of scientific information.
S.K–2.SI.6
Essential Concept and/or Skill: Communicate investigations and explanations. Students should
begin to develop the abilities to communicate, critique, and analyze their work and the work of
other students. Students should communicate orally, through writing or through drawings.
S.K–2.LS.3
Essential Concept and/or Skill: Understand and apply knowledge of the basic needs of plants and
animals and how they interact with each other and their physical environment. Organisms have
basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants require air, water, nutrients,






and light. Organisms interact with each other and their physical environment. Organisms can
survive only in environments in which their needs can be met. The world has many different
environments, and distinct environments support the life of different types of organisms.
S.3–5.LS.1
Essential Concept and/or Skill: Understand and apply knowledge of organisms and their
environments, including:
Structures, characteristics, and adaptations of organisms that allow them to function and
survive within their habitats.
How individual organisms are influenced by internal and external factors.
The relationships among living and non–living factors in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
Animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat
the plants. An organism’s patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism’s
environment, including the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of
food and resources, and the physical characteristics of the environment. When the environment
changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce, others die or move to new locations.
All organisms cause changes in the environment in which they live. Some of these changes are
detrimental to the organism or other organisms, whereas others are beneficial.