Compost

Nature’s Food Cycle

 What do you throw in the trash everyday?
• Paper
• Tin
• Food Waste
• Plastic
• Glass
• Metal

2 07/04/2021 Add a footer

 What happens to this trash?
Pollution Landfill

Natural Decomposition

3 07/04/2021 Add a footer

 Organic and Inorganic Wastes
Organic wastes
(biodegradable wastes)
• waste from organisms or their
life processes that can easily be
broken down
Inorganic Wastes
• waste not from organisms, or
from organisms that existed
millions of years ago, that cannot
be easily broken down

4 07/04/2021 Add a footer

 Full-loop life cycle & Linear Life Cycle
Full-loop life cycle
• a life cycle for a material that never
comes to an end.
Linear Life Cycle
• a life cycle for a material that comes
to an end. For example, plastic is
made from fossil fuels mined from
the Earth.

Choose an answer
Organic wastes are wastes with full-loop life cycle/ linear life cycle.

Inorganic wastes are wastes with full-loop life cycle/ linear life cycle.

5 07/04/2021 Add a footer

Decomposers
Nature’s Food Cycle
 What are decomposers?

Decomposer -an organism, usually a bacterium or fungus, that breaks

down the cells of dead plants and animals into simpler substances

They also break down the waste (poop) of

other organisms. Decomposers are very
important for any ecosystem. If they weren't
in the ecosystem, the plants could not get
essential nutrients, and dead matter and
waste would pile up.

7 07/04/2021 Add a footer

 Decomposers
Invertebrate Organisms
Microscopic decomposers Decomposers (Detritivore)
• Fungi • Earthworms
• Bacteria • Termites
• Millipedes

8 07/04/2021 Add a footer

 What is the main 
difference between detritivores and decomposers
?
Detritovores Microscopic decomposers

• Detritivores use internal digestion • Decomposers use extracellular

• Detritivores intake dead plant and digestion
animal material and break it down • Decomposers use excretive
using internal digestion to reduce enzymes through to break down
particle size organic matter.

9 07/04/2021 Add a footer

 Question time: Can you give me more examples of Invertebrate
Organisms Decomposers (Detritivore)?

10 07/04/2021 Add a footer

 Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB61rfeeAsM&ab_channel=CrashCourseKids
11 07/04/2021 Add a footer
 Example – Decomposer Food Chain
• Identify the producer
• Identify the primary, secondary, Grass
tertiary consumers
• Identify the decomposer t s
en
tr i
Nu

Bacteria Grasshopper

Eagle Snake

12 07/04/2021 Add a footer

 Activity: Make your own Decomposer
Food Chain
Divide into same groups of 4
Each group takes 1 mahjong paper
10 minutes to complete the food chain
(please include your beautiful drawings)
Present your food chain to the class

13 07/04/2021 Add a footer

 Glossary
•organic waste: waste from organisms or their life processes that can easily be broken down
•inorganic waste: waste not from organisms, or from organisms that existed millions of years ago, that cannot
be easily broken down
•decompose: to separate or resolve into components or elements
•decomposer: an organism, usually a bacterium or fungus, that breaks down the cells of dead plants and
animals into simpler substances
•full-loop life cycle: a life cycle for a material that never comes to an end. Examples are organic waste like food
scraps or lawn trimmings that are composted and turned back into the soil from which they came.
•linear life cycle: a life cycle for a material that comes to an end. For example, plastic is made from fossil fuels
mined from the Earth, but its life cycle will end in a landfill.
•compost: a mixture of decayed or decaying organic matter used to fertilize soil
•microorganism: Micro = small, Organism = living thing. A living thing so small that it can only be seen with a
microscope. These include bacteria, protozoans, and certain algae and fungi.

14 07/04/2021 Add a footer

 References
BD Editors. (2019, March 27). Detritivore. Biology Dictionary. https://biologydictionary.net/detritivore

Crash Course Kids. (2015, April 23). The Dirt on Decomposers: Crash Course Kids #7.2 [video]. Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB61rfeeAsM&ab_channel=CrashCourseKids

National Geographic Society. (2019, December 17). Decomposers.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/decomposers/

Science Buddies. (2020, August 21). Compost: A Scientific Investigation | Lesson Plan.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/teacher-resources/lesson-plans/compost

“What Is a Decomposer?”,
www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/marssim/simhtml/info/whats-a-decomposer

15 07/04/2021 Add a footer