Pre-Visit Activities : Decomposers are Recyclers : Assessment Third - Fifth Grade Online Curriculum : Communities

Assessment: A Language Link
Students are asked to write a story from a plants point of view. Each student is a plant that is looking for a place to settle down and grow quickly. There are two different gardens available in which they can choose to grow, however the dirt in each garden is the same and does not contain many nutrients that they can use. Everything about each garden is exactly the same, except what has been spread on top of the soil. They can choose to live in one of the following moist gardens:

1. A garden that has pieces of lettuce scattered on top of the dirt
2. A garden that has cupcakes, loaded with preservatives, scattered on top of the dirt
3. A garden that has pieces of plastic grocery bags scattered on top of the dirt

If they were a plant that needed to grow quickly, in which garden area would they choose to live in and why?

Scoring Rubric (Out of 3 Points)

• They choose to live in the cupcake garden or plastic bag garden (0 points)
• They choose to live in the lettuce garden (1 point)
• They choose to live in the lettuce garden and explain that the lettuce will decompose faster than the cupcakes and the plastic bags (2 points)
• They choose to live in the lettuce garden, explain that the lettuce will decompose faster than the cupcakes and the plastic bags, and that decomposition returns nutrients to the soil that can be used by the plant (3 points)
• Total: 3 points

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Cross-Curricular Extensions
Social Studies Extension
Students should research different methods that have been used over time to prevent food spoilage. The student’s research can have a broad focus or a narrow focus on an industry or a country. Examples of different methods that student groups can research include: refrigeration and freezing, salting, smoking, bottling, canning, vacuum packing, and the use of preservatives. The results of each student’s research can be written in a report or illustrated on poster board.