A Closer Look at Soil and Compost

Oliver “Oxford and I put the food waste in the compost bin and then we can make dirt with it. We can turn it to soil. It’s because the wormies are eating all of the fruit inside this and poop out the food and the poop and the pee is good for the plants.”

Oxford “I put dirt in the box. Because no people eat so much fruit.”

What can we learn from Authors and Illustrators?

We read a book about growing and plants. We noted that the illustrator showed close-ups of different pictures to help us notice more details.

What helps us take a closer look at things around us?

• Oliver “We can look at it close by. We can use a telescope.”
• Eli “We can use a magnify. We can also use our eyes.”
• Oliver “I want to look at a worm closely and see what patterns it has. I mean stripes.”

What might be in the soil and dirt? If we look closely, what do you think we might see?

• Wyatt “We can see a caterpillar.”
• Motong “Ants. Ants eating food.”
• Morning “We can see a mouse.”
• Oxford “We can see a spider.”
• Lydia “Worms.”
• Oliver “When I was outside I actually see this big beetle and it also was inside the dirt. It was so big. He was always sleeping on the dirt and he wakes up.”
• Eli “We can use glasses. The thing that has the list at the front.”

The children found a magnifying glass. They thought it could be used to look at the soil. Yui was very excited to use the new tool and used it to explore the classroom.

We wonder what she discovered!

One child volunteered to get some soil from the garden plots that we could put under the microscope.

He took a second sample of soil from under the wood bark. As he dug into the ground he said “This is so hard.”

He made labels to let the children know what the samples were.

Ms. Eileen used the microscopes and the iPads to help us look closely at the soil.

(Garden Plot Soil, Under Wood Soil)

The children were fascinated with the images. We wonder what they might see as they look closely at the soil.

 

The class leader and was in charge of taking all the fruit waste and peels to the compost bin.

Each day we will add to the compost bin to help us make new soil for the plants.

Approaches to Learning (ATL’s)

• observe carefully
• seek information
• ask or express through play questions that can be researched
• gather information from a variety of sources (people, places, materials, literature)
• listen actively and respectfully to others’ ideas and listen to information
• participate in conversations
• use mark-marking to convey meaning
• document information and observations in a variety of ways
• share responsibility for decision-making