Model the Nutrient Cycle with Decomposers

Students participate in a sequence of hands-on activities:

• Discuss previously learned cycles, habitats, trees, and plants.
• Learn what decomposers are and where decomposition occurs.
• Compare land and underwater decomposers and consider the difference between decomposers and scavengers.
• Make a green leaf and brown leaf from modeling clay.
• Sculpt one or two decomposers, such as a worm.
• Break apart the brown leaf and “feed” it to the clay decomposer.
• Model the material moving through the decomposer and becoming waste that returns nutrients to the environment.
• Create a small party hat or lei strand to “celebrate” the decomposer.
• Discuss the role of scavengers and coprovores.
• Review the lesson’s main concepts and learning objectives.

The lesson also includes a social-emotional connection in which students compare an ecosystem to their own community and consider how each individual plays an important role.