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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 6 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 claim does this record support?
  2. 2. Where did the missing mass go?
  3. 3. What was in the trash can in December?
  4. 4. What does this record not tell you?
2.Where do the minerals in fallen leaves end up after they rot?
  • A.In the clouds
  • B.Nowhere, they are destroyed
  • C.Back in the soil, where roots can take them up
3.Which of these would rot most slowly in a compost bin?
  • A.A plastic bag
  • B.Grass cuttings
  • C.A banana peel
4.Turning a compost heap over with a fork helps it rot faster. Why?
  • A.It squashes the worms
  • B.It lets in air that the decomposers need
  • C.It cools the heap down
5.Why does the middle of a compost heap get warm?
  • A.Compost is made of hot food
  • B.The decomposers breaking the material down give off heat
  • C.The sun heats the middle most
6.Some of a compost heap's mass is lost to the air. In what form?
  • A.As smoke from burning
  • B.As gases given off while the material is broken down
  • C.As light
7.Why should a compost heap be kept damp rather than dry?
  • A.Decomposers need water to live and do their work
  • B.Water makes it smell nicer
  • C.Dry compost is heavier

LessonPrint · 5-LS2-1 · Set 6 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Compost Bin, Month by Month

Set 6. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Matter moves from plants through decomposers back into the soil and the air. 2. Into gas and water given off as the decomposers broke the material down. 3. A warm pile with worms and woodlice, at 26 kg. 4. It does not tell you which decomposers did most of the work.
  2. 2.Back in the soil, where roots can take them up
  3. 3.A plastic bag
  4. 4.It lets in air that the decomposers need
  5. 5.The decomposers breaking the material down give off heat
  6. 6.As gases given off while the material is broken down
  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.