Dishing the dirt! Add to Monday’s warm up! 1. Why is dirt important? 2. How is dirt formed? 3. Why is soil health important to sustainable agriculture?

Today’s Game plan 1. Get back eating test 2. Check out the compost bins – what are they, what are they good for and how do they fit in the carbon cycle? 3. Set up our decomposition lab!

The Carbon Cycle Organisms need carbon: For an energy source (carbohydrates) To build organic molecules (carbs, proteins, DNA) USE THE WORD BANK TO LABEL THE ARROWS! (when you finish, answer objectives #11-13)

Pick ONE condition to test How can we build a better compost? Purpose question: What conditions will make this carrot rot faster? Hypothesis: Medium type (leaves, finished compost) Wet vs. Dry Warm vs. Cold Light vs. Dark Large pieces vs small pieces (cut up)

Label your design independent variable: the one thing that is different between the trials dependent variable: what we measure at the end controlled variables: things that are the same between the trials experimental groups: include the independent variables control group: for comparison; does not include the independent variable

Data Table Bag Mass at beginning Mass at end Percent left observations Control

What have you learned today? What is compost? How is compost used? What part of the carbon cycle is going on in a compost pile? How does a compost pile speed up decomposition?