Even worms are doing their thing for the environment! A junior programme for students to discover the important role worms can play in our waste management system. Students search the area for worms and create their own worm farm to take back to school.
| Age/Level: | Years 0–4 |
| Availability: | Available year round |
| Length: | 2 hours |
| Site: | EcoDepot / EcoDrop, Metro Place, Bromley or Curator's House, Botanic Gardens |
| Cost: | Free |
| Number of classes: | One at a time
(One class = 30 students) |
Requirements: Each student needs to bring a 1.5 litre plastic bottle ready for reusing, and a newspaper
Programme outline
Key concepts
Sustainability, personal and social responsibility for action, waste heirarchy, natural cycles for dealing with waste, wormfarming, organic waste.
Lesson description/intentions
Students will discover the magic of worm casts – the result of busy worms transforming kitchen organics into great compost for our soils. During this programme, students will discuss the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling. Specifically designed for young children, this guided process will help students build a worm farm to take home.
Possible success criteria
Students may be able to:
- Explain at least one way that we can reduce waste in our lives.
- Show how to make a simple worm farm out of reused materials.
- Describe how worms recycle food and other organic materials that can then be used to grow new plants.
- Identify actions they can take to encourage better use of organic resources in their lives.
Key Competencies
Participating and contributing - students will become actively involved in exploring sustainable choices in order to reduce waste
Thinking -
Managing self - having correctly followed the process of making a worm farm on our programme, students will then be challenged to build and maintain a worm farm at home or school
Feedback
"The children were engaged all the time and asked some very interesting questions. The educator was very helpful with ideas about how to make a school worm farm."
Teacher, Years 1–3
Learning areas
| |
Technology
| Technological practice
| Level 1
| |
Levels 1 and 2
| |
Technological practice
| Levels 1 and 2
| - Brief development
- Technological systems
|
Nature of technology
| Levels 1 and 2
| - Characteristics of technology
- Characteristics of technological outcomes
|
Science
| Living world
| Levels 1 and 2
| |
Material world
| Levels 1 and 2
| |
Nature of science
| Levels 1 and 2
| - Investigating in science
- Participating and contributing
|
| Planet Earth and beyond | Levels 1 and 2 | - Earth systems
- Interating features
|
Social sciences
| Resources and economic activities | Level 1 | - Understands that people have different roles and responsibilities as part of their participation in groups
|
| Place and environment | Level 2 | - Understand that people have social, cultural and economic roles, rights and responsibilities
- Understand how people make choices to meet their needs and wants
|
Health and physical education
| Personal health and physical development | Levels 1 and 2 | |
| Relationships with other people | Level 1 | |
| Healthy communities and environments | Level 2 | - D3 Rights, responsibilities and laws
|
