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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.

Set 15 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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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. What does this record not tell you?
  2. 2. What was in the trash can in December?
  3. 3. Where did the missing mass go?
  4. 4. How much material was added in September?
2.Why is compost good to dig into a vegetable bed?
  • A.It makes the soil heavier
  • B.It keeps slugs away for ever
  • C.It returns matter to the soil that plants can take up
3.Turning a compost heap over with a fork helps it rot faster. Why?
  • A.It squashes the worms
  • B.It cools the heap down
  • C.It lets in air that the decomposers need
4.Which of these would rot most slowly in a compost bin?
  • A.A banana peel
  • B.A plastic bag
  • C.Grass cuttings
5.Some of a compost heap's mass is lost to the air. In what form?
  • A.As gases given off while the material is broken down
  • B.As light
  • C.As smoke from burning
6.What would happen in a wood with no decomposers at all?
  • A.The trees would grow faster
  • B.Nothing would change
  • C.Dead leaves and wood would pile up, and their matter would not return to the soil
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 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Compost Bin, Month by Month

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It does not tell you which decomposers did most of the work. 2. A warm pile with worms and woodlice, at 26 kg. 3. Into gas and water given off as the decomposers broke the material down. 4. 40 kg of leaves, peelings and grass.
  2. 2.It returns matter to the soil that plants can take up
  3. 3.It lets in air that the decomposers need
  4. 4.A plastic bag
  5. 5.As gases given off while the material is broken down
  6. 6.Dead leaves and wood would pile up, and their matter would not return to the soil
  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.