A Science Notebook Story: Investigating Compost

Anoushka spent two months with her fourth grade students exploring the question, How do different objects change over time? Her class placed several objects – an apple, a bagel, a leaf, a paper plate, a plastic spoon, and a piece of tin foil – in clear plastic containers of soil. They made predictions about how each object would change, and then carefully observed the objects over the course of seven weeks.

Read on to see how several notebook strategies worked together to help students build their science ideas about decomposition. To view examples of student work and to download the complete lesson plan, click the links below.

Anoushka circulated during the weekly observations, encouraging students to add more labels and explanations to their sketches. As they searched for words to describe what they noticed, she offered useful descriptive vocabulary. She added each word to an anchor chart she created, titled “Words to Describe Objects.” Over the course of seven weeks, the list grew.

Anoushka knew she’d need to share some science content with her students, in order for them to understand what was happening in this experiment. She wanted them to conduct the investigation first, and then offer the content just-in-time – at the moment when students had built enough context and curiosity that they really needed to know more.

So, she waited until Week 6 to introduce a text from her science textbook. After reading, students took notes in their notebooks, recording what they understood about the concepts of microorganisms and decomposition.

Anoushka Takla teaches fourth grade at M.H. Tobias Elementary School in Daly City, CA. She is an alumna of the California Academy of Sciences' Teacher Institute on Science and Sustainability. She loves facilitating this compost investigation because it gives students "a real-life experience that shows them that what they do, even as children, has an impact on our environment."