Re-cap - LESSON 2 EXPERIMENT
Lesson 3 - Part A: THE LIVING SOIL
Lesson 3 - Part B: RECYCLING ORGANIC WASTE
The corn and legume seed in the Lesson 2 experiment should be germinating at about this time.
In the next 2-3 weeks students will be able to see for themselves the differences in early growth between monocotyledons that produce a single seed leaf, and dicotyledons that produce the more common two seed leaves. If the experiment is kept alive for 3 weeks, the students will be able to see how much organic matter roots of annual plants add to the soil. This is an important part of the lesson in the following term on growing green manures.
Please ensure that the experiment seedlings are kept in a protected well-lit place, and that they receive regular watering (and organic allowed liquid fertiliser, if necessary) to maintain good growth over the next few weeks.
PREPARATION FOR LESSON 3:
Please read through Lesson 3 text for students.
Biologically active soil is the secret to healthy soils and plant growth, and recycled organic matter is essential to the abundant presence of beneficial bacteria, fungi and other soil organisms. In gardens where synthetic chemical fertilisers that do not add organic matter to soil are used, and where fungicides and herbicides that kill or inhibit soil organisms are employed, decaying plant roots are the only source of organic matter. Where biological activity is low, plants are more prone to pests and diseases.
To help students understand this extremely important part of the program, Part A of this lesson describes the difference between organic and 'chemical' gardening, and provides the 5 basic steps for keeping soil healthy.
This part of the lesson also explains what recycled organic waste does for topsoil and introduces students to bacteria and fungi as 'characters', helping to demonstrate the range of functions soil microorganisms perform.
- Return to top of page
This section contains a simple explanation of how compost is made in a 'compost factory', beginning with the difference between aerobic or 'hot' composting and anaerobic composting, and why 'hot' composting is the preferred method for school food gardens.
As stated in the 'Getting Down to Earth' section of the Introduction for Supervisors, the students won't be adding ingredients to the compost factory, or mixing the ingredients in the factory without supervision.
You may prefer to conduct this part of the lesson in the garden area, allowing them to see the progress in the compost factory and reminding them about the lidded bin where they can put compost fuels.
This part of the lesson also contains a simplified list of compost fuels that students might encounter at school. For quick reference, the full list and reasons why certain materials should, or should not, be used can be found in Easy Organic Gardening and Moon Planting pp 47-51.
You may want to print out the 'Fuels for Your Compost Factory' on page 4 of this lesson as a reminder to students of what can be added to the fuel bin.
- Return to top of page