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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 22 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 was in the trash can in December?
  2. 2. What claim does this record support?
  3. 3. What happened to the mass over the year?
  4. 4. How much material was added in September?
2.Why is compost good to dig into a vegetable bed?
  • A.It returns matter to the soil that plants can take up
  • B.It keeps slugs away for ever
  • C.It makes the soil heavier
3.Where do the minerals in fallen leaves end up after they rot?
  • A.Back in the soil, where roots can take them up
  • B.Nowhere, they are destroyed
  • C.In the clouds
4.Turning a compost heap over with a fork helps it rot faster. Why?
  • A.It cools the heap down
  • B.It squashes the worms
  • C.It lets in air that the decomposers need
5.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
6.Why does the middle of a compost heap get warm?
  • A.The decomposers breaking the material down give off heat
  • B.Compost is made of hot food
  • C.The sun heats the middle most
7.What would happen in a wood with no decomposers at all?
  • A.Nothing would change
  • B.The trees would grow faster
  • C.Dead leaves and wood would pile up, and their matter would not return to the soil

LessonPrint · 5-LS2-1 · Set 22 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Compost Bin, Month by Month

Set 22. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. A warm pile with worms and woodlice, at 26 kg. 2. Matter moves from plants through decomposers back into the soil and the air. 3. It fell from 40 kg in September to 14 kg in June. 4. 40 kg of leaves, peelings and grass.
  2. 2.It returns matter to the soil that plants can take up
  3. 3.Back in the soil, where roots can take them up
  4. 4.It lets in air that the decomposers need
  5. 5.Fungi and other decomposers have broken it down
  6. 6.The decomposers breaking the material down give off heat
  7. 7.Dead leaves and wood would pile up, and their matter would not return to the soil

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