Mary Hooker School Earth Tub
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Mary Hooker Environmental Science School Composting Together Austin Devon Diandra Erica Micah Monica & David Cappaert, Greenhouse / Butterfly Curator Ms. Likke Grade 3
description
See how students at Mary Hooker School use a Green Mountain Technologies Earth Tub Composter to turn waste into compost!
Transcript of Mary Hooker School Earth Tub
Mary Hooker Environmental Science
School
Composting Together
AustinDevonDiandraEricaMicahMonica
& David Cappaert, Greenhouse / Butterfly Curator
Ms. LikkeGrade 3
What is Compost?
Compost starts with organic matter: dead parts of plants and sometimes, animals.
Some organic materials
The organic matter decomposes (rots) when decomposing organisms grow on it.
Decomposers include:
ANIMALSBACTERIA
FUNGI
White Gray or Black
Usually Fuzzy
FUNGI
BACTERIA
When all of the decomposers are done, what is left is dark humus. The compost has many nutrients (things plants need to grow), and it can be used as fertilizer for plants.
In this picture:
Much of the organic material has decomposed- it is now compost
Bigger pieces take longer to break down
How we compost at Mary Hooker School
We start with leftover food, that we collect in the cafeteria.
We also get plant waste from the greenhouse and vivarium
What organic (good materials) can you see?What non-organic (bad materials) can you see?
There are 2 organics barrels in the cafeteria
Organiccompost
A problem we work on: getting the leftovers into:
Trash, not compostable
Liquidnotcompostable
The organic matter is then added to our composter.
The Earth Tub … is a big round steel tub.
It can hold a truckload of compost.
It has handles for turning, to mixand a motor that turns a mixing blade.
Motor
Motor Door for adding waste
Turning handle
The Composter We also add sawdust. This step is important because the sawdust keeps the mixture dry, makes space for air, and adds carbon.
PICTURE OF COMOST BEING
ADDED
Inside the composter: cafeteria waste, greenhouse weeds, and sawdust
The Composter SAWDUST SAWDUSTVEGETABLE
&
FRUIT
1 Part of Cafeteria Waste (Vegetable and Fruit) +2 Parts of Sawdust
= Good Compost
Afterwards, we turn the tub to mix the materials.
And, Oh yeah … Why? We want to save the earth and
make it better
We are an environmental science school, so we compost
Also: We use compost to help grow better plants and flowers.
