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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. 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 would happen to the compost spread on the beds?
2.A fallen log in a wood is soft and crumbly after a few years. What has happened?
  • A.Fungi and other decomposers have broken it down
  • B.The rain has melted it
  • C.It has turned back into a seed
3.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
4.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
5.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
6.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
7.Which of these would rot most slowly in a compost bin?
  • A.A banana peel
  • B.A plastic bag
  • C.Grass cuttings

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

Answer key — The Compost Bin, Month by Month

Set 5. 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. It would feed the plants, which grew noticeably greener.
  2. 2.Fungi and other decomposers have broken it down
  3. 3.As gases given off while the material is broken down
  4. 4.Eat dead material and break it into smaller pieces
  5. 5.Dead leaves and wood would pile up, and their matter would not return to the soil
  6. 6.It lets in air that the decomposers need
  7. 7.A plastic bag

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