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The Compost Bin, Month by Month is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on using a year of compost records as evidence that decomposers return matter, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 5-LS2-1. It prints 7 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

The Compost Bin, Month by Month

5-LS2-1

NameDate

Read the record, then answer the questions.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

The Compost Bin, Month by Month

Monthly notes and masses from the school compost bin, over one year. WHAT WENT IN AND WHAT CAME OUT September: 40 kg of leaves, peelings and grass added December: pile warm inside, worms and woodlice present, 26 kg March: dark crumbly material, few recognizable pieces, 17 kg June: dark soil-like compost, 14 kg, spread on the beds Plants grown in that bed were noticeably greener.

  1. 1. Where did the missing mass go?
  2. 2. What does this record not tell you?
  3. 3. How much material was added in September?
  4. 4. What would happen to the compost spread on the beds?
2.Some of a compost heap's mass is lost to the air. In what form?
  • A.As smoke from burning
  • B.As gases given off while the material is broken down
  • C.As light
3.Which of these would rot most slowly in a compost bin?
  • A.A plastic bag
  • B.A banana peel
  • C.Grass cuttings
4.A fallen log in a wood is soft and crumbly after a few years. What has happened?
  • A.It has turned back into a seed
  • B.The rain has melted it
  • C.Fungi and other decomposers have broken it down
5.Why is compost good to dig into a vegetable bed?
  • A.It makes the soil heavier
  • B.It returns matter to the soil that plants can take up
  • C.It keeps slugs away for ever
6.What do worms do in a compost bin?
  • A.Keep the bin dry
  • B.Make the plants grow inside the bin
  • C.Eat dead material and break it into smaller pieces
7.Why should a compost heap be kept damp rather than dry?
  • A.Water makes it smell nicer
  • B.Decomposers need water to live and do their work
  • C.Dry compost is heavier

LessonPrint · 5-LS2-1 · Set 12 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Compost Bin, Month by Month

Set 12. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Into gas and water given off as the decomposers broke the material down. 2. It does not tell you which decomposers did most of the work. 3. 40 kg of leaves, peelings and grass. 4. It would feed the plants, which grew noticeably greener.
  2. 2.As gases given off while the material is broken down
  3. 3.A plastic bag
  4. 4.Fungi and other decomposers have broken it down
  5. 5.It returns matter to the soil that plants can take up
  6. 6.Eat dead material and break it into smaller pieces
  7. 7.Decomposers need water to live and do their work

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-LS2-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.