Discovery Express
  • Welcome!
  • Blog
  • Check out our store!
  • 9 Apples Math Game
  • Your questions answered!
  • About

Biodegradable Gardening 

4/26/2015

3 Comments

 
Author: Maddie Van Beek

Did you know that April 22nd was Earth Day? Earth Day began back in 1970 as a response to a devastating oil spill.  Now, Earth Day continues to remind people to take care of and celebrate our Earth! People often memorialize earth day by volunteering, planting a garden, cleaning up highways, among many more ways to leave our earth better than we found it. What can you do to help your world? 

Picture
http://www.ecosacramento.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/sacramentoearthday_dana-gray.jpg


The important thing to remember is to take care of our world not just on Earth Day, but every day! What are some ways that you can take care of the earth in your community? 



Here’s some more information about Earth Day and the different ways you can celebrate it!

Earth Day

In relation to Earth Day, we are going to learn what the word biodegradable means. 




Have you ever seen this symbol? If you do, that means the item is biodegradable! But what exactly does that mean? 

Picture
http://fairweathers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/biodegradable.png
Biodegradable is defined as any item that can be decomposed (broken down) by bacteria or other living organisms. Think about what this means. What items can you think of that might be biodegradable? For example, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is biodegradable! You, a living organism, break down that sandwich in your body when you eat it. 



Biodegradable material is usually organic material that was originally from other living organisms. The word organic can have a few different meanings, but in this case, it means plant or animal matter. This not only includes plants and animals, but plant and animal waste material, as well. 



While much of the world around us is biodegradable, some materials are not. When non-biodegradable items are littered around, they don’t break down like biodegradable material. For example, a plastic bag can take up to 20 years to break down! These items then end up in landfills, cluttering our earth and potentially causing harm to animals and their habitats. 



Just imagine how long the plastic in this landfill would take to decompose!

Picture
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/28/Landfill.jpg



This is just one example of an animal affected by littered plastic. 
Picture
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SOCn0PF9ZKU/UnsRKx-jjLI/AAAAAAAAADA/xvq8euzx_zY/s1600/7538580.jpg


How DOES plastic decompose, anyway? Find out HERE. 



Activity

YOU WILL NEED:

Dirt

Water

Deep pan or garden box

Popsicle sticks

Various items to plant. May include:

  • Dirty sock
  • Apple core
  • Banana peel
  • A kleenex
  • Milk carton
  • Plastic wrapper
  • Piece of bread
  • Toilet paper



Here’s what to do! 



You are going to plant your various items in your garden. Instead of planting seeds and watching things grow, you are going to observe how the items decompose. Essentially, you are creating a reverse garden! Through this experiment, you are going to find out which items are biodegradable and which are not. 



1. Make predictions! Write down which items you think will decompose the fastest, slowest, or not at all. Make guesses on how long you think each will take to decompose. 

2. Fill the deep pan with dirt. 

3. Use a pen or marker to label popsicle sticks with each item you are going to plant. 

4. Plant each item in the pan. Make sure the items are completely covered in dirt and are planted at the same depth. You could use a ruler to measure from the item to the surface of the dirt to make sure the items are all covered by the same amount of dirt. 

5. As you plant each item, stick the labeled popsicle stick into the dirt behind the item so you can identify the items later on. 


6. Water your garden! 


7. Now, the waiting game has started. Make sure you water your garden once a day. After one week, dig up your garden and make observations. What do your items look like now? Take pictures or make sketches in your observation journal. Which items seem to be decomposing the fastest? Are there any items that look the same?


8. Rebury your items as you did in step 4 and continue with daily watering. 


9. Check back at week 2 and take pictures, make sketches, and record observations in your journal. Rebury and continue watering. 


10. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for two more weeks. 


11. At week 4, dig up your items and record your final observations. 



Remember, those items that didn’t decompose wouldn’t break down for many years to come! Use this activity as a great reminder to take care of our beautiful earth! 




References: 

  • http://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/crafts/seasonal/winter/science-experiments-for-kids3.htm
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodegradation
  • http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement
  • http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/coastal/trash/documents/marine_debris.pdf
3 Comments
husqvarna 224l oil link
11/3/2015 12:24:12 am

People often memorialize earth day by volunteering, planting a garden, cleaning up highways, among many more ways to leave our earth better than we found it. What can you do to help your world?

Reply
garbage can link
5/13/2020 04:59:59 pm

good

Reply
Michael link
9/25/2021 02:44:53 am

Great Article! Thank you for sharing this very informative post, and looking forward to the latest one.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Follow us on Pinterest!
    Picture
    Check out our new game for math education, grades 1-7!

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    Age 10 12
    Age 12 14
    Age 14 16
    Age 16+
    Age 8 10
    Anatomy/Physiology
    Biology
    Chemistry
    Engineering
    Food Science
    Geology/Earth Science
    Health Science
    Math
    Microbiology
    Physics
    Plant Science
    Psychology
    Weather Science

Proudly powered by Weebly