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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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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. Where did the missing mass go?
  3. 3. What claim does this record support?
  4. 4. What would happen to the compost spread on the beds?
2.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
3.A fallen log in a wood is soft and crumbly after a few years. What has happened?
  • A.The rain has melted it
  • B.It has turned back into a seed
  • C.Fungi and other decomposers have broken it down
4.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
5.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
6.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
7.Why is compost good to dig into a vegetable bed?
  • A.It returns matter to the soil that plants can take up
  • B.It makes the soil heavier
  • C.It keeps slugs away for ever

LessonPrint · 5-LS2-1 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Compost Bin, Month by Month

Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. 40 kg of leaves, peelings and grass. 2. Into gas and water given off as the decomposers broke the material down. 3. Matter moves from plants through decomposers back into the soil and the air. 4. It would feed the plants, which grew noticeably greener.
  2. 2.As gases given off while the material is broken down
  3. 3.Fungi and other decomposers have broken it down
  4. 4.Back in the soil, where roots can take them up
  5. 5.Decomposers need water to live and do their work
  6. 6.It lets in air that the decomposers need
  7. 7.It returns matter to the soil that plants can take up

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