1. Liz Getsinger BCPS Green School summit
EEK! Worm Composting 101?
Liz Getsinger
BCPS Green School summit

3. 25% of food Americans buy is thrown into a landfill
12.7% of our waste stream is food waste
According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)…
Methane (CH4) is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide and contributes more to global warming.

4. Due to BCPS Rules, we can’t put vermicompost on edibles, only butterfly gardens, classroom plants, etc.

5. Worms are just so cool!
Plus!

6. In Canada and the Northern US, most native earthworms got wiped out by:
disease
drought
floods
glaciers
Did you know most of the worms in our soil currently are invasive species?...
During the last ice age, which happened 10,000 years ago (Pleistocine Era), glaciers swept across the US and Canada and wiped out most native earthworms. Most of the earthworms we have now were brought here by Europeans starting in the 1600s.

7. What is the longest earthworm in the US?
3 feet
7 feet
9 feet
12 feet
The Oregon giant earthworm is 3 feet! Tremors

8. Male Female Male and Female Male Changes to Female
Most earthworms are…
Male
Female
Male and Female
Male Changes to Female
Each worm has testes and ovaries. One worm still passes sperm to another worm.

9. How many hearts do earthworms have?10 3 5 1
Worms have 5 hearts/arches that pump blood, located in their anteriors
5 hearts means 5 times the love!

10. Not all worms do well in compost bins.
Compost worms
Special Features
Eisenia fetida
Tiger worm, manure worm, brandling worm
Dendrobaena venta
Dendras, blue noses
Lumbricus rubellus
Redworm, blood worm, red wiggler
Eisenia Andrei
Red tiger worm
Live in top 12” of soil
Don’t build permanent burrows
Just burrow randomly
Other worms like the ones we find in our gardens burrow down deep and just come up to feed at night.
They eat mostly leaves and some soil
Their vertical burrows go down a few feet deep.
Leave their poo (castes) at the entrances of their burrows.

11. Worm Factory 360 by Nature’s Footprint
It comes with everything you need, online $80-100, fancier ones come with test kits, etc.
Grants (21st initiative grant), ask Admin or PTA

12. How it Works
Newspaper
Minerals
Food
Water
Show real bin here

13. Build Your Own Vermicomposter
rmicomposting-worm-farm- diy-easy-and-frugal/
7.htm
-a-Worm-Compost-System
Drill air holes into any plastic container. Use newspaper for bedding, get worms online,

14. X
Most people think all food can be composted but…that’s not true.

15. AVOID! Salty foods citrus spicy foods oils
prepackaged foods with preservatives
meat and dairy products
Meat and dairy smell
Worms just won’t eat the other foods

16. What to Feed Worms Add food when engaged in older food
Add equal portions of greens and browns:
Greens: Vegetable and fruit scraps, bread, pasta, coffee grounds and filters, teabags, dead plant matter from houseplants
Browns: Paper, junk mail, paper egg cartons, cardboard, dry leaves
Chop food up
Worms eat half their body weight. One pound of worms can eat ½ pound of food a day. If they don’t have enough food, they will start eating their waste and then get sick. They die and eat then eat each other.

17. Curricular Connections: NGSS
Elementary K-5: From Molecules to Organisms
Middle School Life Science
High School Life Science
Topics
Organisms’ needs
Using animal mimicry to solve problems
Life Cycles
What structures do animals have to grow and live?
Decomposition
Design investigations (invertebrates)
We all teach life science at some point and usually you can make any species fit.

18. Vermicomposting Lesson
Lesson
Kids research to learn about worms to design a habitat for them.
Show them the composter and teach them how to Vermicompost
Handout for them to make one at home

19. Kids really do love worms once they learn about them.

20. You can also really get students involved in caring for them
You can also really get students involved in caring for them. They can collect the food in the café, cut the food, shred the paper, keep the worms covered and moist, and help collect the compost.

21. egetsinger@bcps.org bcpsgreenschools.pbworks.com