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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 3 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. How much material was added in September?
  2. 2. What does this record not tell you?
  3. 3. What was in the trash can in December?
  4. 4. What claim does this record support?
2.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
3.Where do the minerals in fallen leaves end up after they rot?
  • A.Nowhere, they are destroyed
  • B.In the clouds
  • C.Back in the soil, where roots can take them up
4.What would happen in a wood with no decomposers at all?
  • A.The trees would grow faster
  • B.Dead leaves and wood would pile up, and their matter would not return to the soil
  • C.Nothing would change
5.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
6.Why is compost good to dig into a vegetable bed?
  • A.It keeps slugs away for ever
  • B.It makes the soil heavier
  • C.It returns matter to the soil that plants can take up
7.Which of these would rot most slowly in a compost bin?
  • A.A plastic bag
  • B.A banana peel
  • C.Grass cuttings

LessonPrint · 5-LS2-1 · Set 3 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Compost Bin, Month by Month

Set 3. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. 40 kg of leaves, peelings and grass. 2. It does not tell you which decomposers did most of the work. 3. A warm pile with worms and woodlice, at 26 kg. 4. Matter moves from plants through decomposers back into the soil and the air.
  2. 2.It lets in air that the decomposers need
  3. 3.Back in the soil, where roots can take them up
  4. 4.Dead leaves and wood would pile up, and their matter would not return to the soil
  5. 5.Eat dead material and break it into smaller pieces
  6. 6.It returns matter to the soil that plants can take up
  7. 7.A plastic bag

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