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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. What does this record not tell you?
  2. 2. What happened to the mass over the year?
  3. 3. Where did the missing mass go?
  4. 4. What would happen to the compost spread on the beds?
2.What would happen in a wood with no decomposers at all?
  • A.Dead leaves and wood would pile up, and their matter would not return to the soil
  • B.The trees would grow faster
  • C.Nothing would change
3.What do worms do in a compost bin?
  • A.Keep the bin dry
  • B.Eat dead material and break it into smaller pieces
  • C.Make the plants grow inside the bin
4.Why should a compost heap be kept damp rather than dry?
  • A.Dry compost is heavier
  • B.Water makes it smell nicer
  • C.Decomposers need water to live and do their work
5.Which of these would rot most slowly in a compost bin?
  • A.Grass cuttings
  • B.A banana peel
  • C.A plastic bag
6.Where do the minerals in fallen leaves end up after they rot?
  • A.Back in the soil, where roots can take them up
  • B.In the clouds
  • C.Nowhere, they are destroyed
7.Some of a compost heap's mass is lost to the air. In what form?
  • A.As light
  • B.As smoke from burning
  • C.As gases given off while the material is broken down

LessonPrint · 5-LS2-1 · Set 25 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Compost Bin, Month by Month

Set 25. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It does not tell you which decomposers did most of the work. 2. It fell from 40 kg in September to 14 kg in June. 3. Into gas and water given off as the decomposers broke the material down. 4. It would feed the plants, which grew noticeably greener.
  2. 2.Dead leaves and wood would pile up, and their matter would not return to the soil
  3. 3.Eat dead material and break it into smaller pieces
  4. 4.Decomposers need water to live and do their work
  5. 5.A plastic bag
  6. 6.Back in the soil, where roots can take them up
  7. 7.As gases given off while the material is broken down

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