1. Decomposition Photo Essay The Compost Bucket

2. What is this? What could be inside?

3. Hmm…

4. A compost close-up! What do you think? Yuck? or… COOL!

5. Why do we compost? Does nature know how to compost? You bet! All the time!! What is composting?

6. The natural process of decomposition… Leaves contain vitamins called nutrients. As summer turns into fall…

7. Summer in New England… dark green leaves Fall in New England… brown leaves

8. …The leaves drop to the ground! Once on the ground, the leaves begin to decompose. And with the help of small insects and bacteria, the nutrients are returned to the soil. Instead of throwing away trash, we can help return nutrients to soil by composting just like nature does on her own!

9. Acknowledgements The photos of the colorful leaves and trees in fall were provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Other photos were provided by the Aggie Horticulture Network, part of the Texas A&M University System. The satellite images used in this lesson were captured by a combination of NASA satellites (courtesy of NASA’s Earth Observatory).