What role do worms play in reducing food waste going to landfill?

Students in lower primary classes will set up a worm farm to expand the management of compostable waste at the school. This practical, hands-on activity will encourage students to explore how worm farms are a vital part of a healthy garden, turning food scraps and waste into high quality food for plants. Students will observe worms for their characteristics and lifecycle.

Students in upper primary classes will conduct investigations guided by that inquiry question. They will observe, measure, and record data of food waste collected each week at school, notice patterns, make predictions about future data, and draw conclusions based on evidence. Students will explore ecosystems where decomposers (worms) play a vital part in breaking down waste to prevent it from piling up. They draw further understandings that resources are finite and that humans have a responsibility to use them wisely. 

Once the worm farm is established, students have different responsibilities, including maintaining the worm farm, the daily collection of food scraps from each classroom and feeding the worms, and also monitoring and weighing the weekly compostable waste at the school. The ongoing collection of data will enable students to make informed predictions and decisions about the future management of food waste at the school. They are active citizens in a sustainability initiative that benefits their school community.