AQUiLA THE GREEN ISSUE ACTIVITY
FascinatingFoodChain !
Learning objectives
– Independentresearch – Learnaboutthecomplexecosystem thatoperateswithinacompostheap – Establishandobservethelinkbetweenthisecosystem andgoodquality compost .
O
1-2 hours Individual or small group work Difficulty : Bit of a thinker
EB ’ smission
DoyouhaveyourcopyofTheGreenIssuetohand ? Great ! Turntothearticleaboutmakingcompostonpages22-23 . Did youknowthatinsidethecompostheap , milionsoftinycreaturesareconstantlyatwork ? You ’ regoingtoidentifywhich groupstheybelongtoand�ndoutexactlywhatimportantjobstheydo . Then , andonlythen , wilyoutrulybeatonewith thecompostheap . Ahh , sosatisfying .
Getstarted
Phase 1 :
Manymicroorganismsinacompostheaparechemicaldecomposers . Theyuse chemicalsintheirbodiestobreakdownorganicmaterintosimplermaterials . Otherorganismsarephysicaldecomposers . Theychew , grind , tearandsqueeze materialsintosmalerpiecesaswelasproducingtheirownwastematerials .
Phase 2 :
Yourjobistodosomeindependentresearchtohelpclasifythedifferenttypesof creaturesthatareatworkinsidethecompostheap . Usetheinformationyou�nd to�linthetablegivenbelow ( page2 ). Onceyou ’ vedonethis , checkoutthelist ofposibleadditionsandseehowmanyyou ’ vefound !
You will need – Thefoodchaintablebelow – Pencilorpen – Accesstoresearchfacilitieslike gardeningbooksand / ortheinternet ( withadultsupervision !)
EBwouldlovetoseeyourcompletedtables ! Sendpicturestotheaddresson theReaders ’ PageoftheAQUILAwebsite , andwe ’ lshareasmanyaswecan .
Food Chain Table on page 2
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