Jack is Back!

On Earth Day we dug "Jack" up!

Way back in October, we buried our jack-o-lantern to find out what would happen to him during the long winter months. Unknown to the kids, but my purpose for this activity is to teach the kids about decomposition and the importance of being responsible for items that are not biodegradable. Most of the kids predicted that we would find a rotten pumpkin when I started digging, but they soon realized that there was no pumpkin left. The only remaining part of the pumpkin was the stem! But, we did find some of the items that we put inside...the pencil, marker, eraser, paperclip, plastic bag, magnetic letter X, fruit snack, a plastic knife, and a LOT of WORMS! 

The students quickly picked up on the idea that the worms were responsible for the missing pumpkin. So I asked them why the worms did not break down the other items and they knew that plastic is not biodegradable! Such smarties:) Afterwards, we talked about items that we could put in a compost bin and items that should not be included. Overall I would say this lesson was a success!