Composting, Grade 5: STEM Road Map for Elementary School

✍ Scribed by Carla C. Johnson, Janet B. Walton, Erin E. Peters-Burton

• Publisher: Routledge/Eye on Education
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 180
• Series: STEM Road Map Curriculum Series
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

What if you could challenge your fifth-grade students to investigate the role of composting in solid waste management? With this volume in the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series, you can! Composting outlines a journey that will steer your students toward authentic problem solving while grounding them in integrated STEM disciplines. Like the other volumes in the series, this book is designed to meet the growing need to infuse real-world learning into K–12 classrooms.

This interdisciplinary, four-lesson module uses project- and problem-based learning to help students use the engineering design process (EDP) to design and create prototypes of compost systems and build a full-scale composting system for school use. Students will synthesize their learning about biotic and abiotic factors, decomposition, and engineering design as they learn about various types of compost systems, create their own portable compost bins, and create materials for a composting publicity campaign at their school.

To support this goal, students will do the following:

• Identify and explain interdependent relationships in ecosystems
• Compare and contrast several ecosystems
• Describe how compost systems are designed and constructed and apply this understanding to creating prototypes of various compost systems
• Understand the concept of scale and apply this understanding to create scaled models of compost systems
• Apply their understanding of composting, compost systems, and the EDP to create a full-scale compost system for the school
• Measure various characteristics of compost

The STEM Road Map Curriculum Series is anchored in the Next Generation Science Standards, the Common Core State Standards, and the Framework for 21st Century Learning. In-depth and flexible, Composting can be used as a whole unit or in part to meet the needs of districts, schools, and teachers who are charting a course toward an integrated STEM approach.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Half Title
Series
Title
Copyright
Contents
About the Editors and Authors
Acknowledgments
Part 1: The STEM Road Map: Background, Theory, and Practice
1 Overview of the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series
Standards-Based Approach
Themes in the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series
The Need for an Integrated STEM Approach
Framework for STEM Integration in the Classroom
The Need for the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series
References
2 Strategies Used in the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series
Project- and Problem-Based Learning
Engineering Design Process
Learning Cycle
STEM Research Notebook
The Role of Assessment in the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series
Self-Regulated Learning Theory in the STEM Road Map Modules
Safety in STEM
References
Part 2: Composting: STEM Road Map Module
3 Composting Module Overview
Module Summary
Established Goals and Objectives
Challenge or Problem for Students to Solve: The Compost System Design Challenge
Content Standards Addressed in This STEM Road Map Module
STEM Research Notebook
Module Launch
Prerequisite Skills for the Module
Potential STEM Misconceptions
Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) Process Components
Integrating Instruction Across Subjects
Strategies for Differentiating Instruction within This Module
Strategies for English Language Learners
Safety Considerations for the Activities in This Module
Desired Outcomes and Monitoring Success
Assessment Plan Overview and Map
Module Timeline
Resources
References
4 Composting Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan 1: Ecosystem Explorers
Lesson Plan 2: Composting Systems
Lesson Plan 3: Prototyping Compost Systems
Lesson Plan 4: The Compost System Design Challenge
5 Transforming Learning with Composting and the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series
Appendix A: Rubrics
Appendix B: Content Standards Addressed in This Module
Index