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We've talked about food chains and how energy moves through an ecosystem, but let's take a step back and see how everything starts... and ends. Decomposers!

This first series is based on 5th-grade science. We're super excited and hope you enjoy Crash Course Kids!

///Standards Used in This Video///
5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that matter that is not food (air, water, decomposed materials in soil) is changed by plants into matter that is food. Examples of systems could include organisms, ecosystems, and the Earth.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include molecular explanations.]

• link: https://youtu.be/uB61rfeeAsM?si=zlKjT0vjQBOIENTc

https://kera.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/reduce-reuse-recycle-what-is-air/reduce-reuse-recycle/
https://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/

Videos on soil and composting by our local compost facility

• link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxfMbSO1ASOECHZtV_yJEYw

Local Farm has YouTube videos and kids activities on their site.

• link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtnEHYErnOutIzBAU2puadw/videos

Animated video on growing food in ways that give back to the soil.

• link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iloAQmroRK0

This is an entertaining and informative video on scavengers.

https://youtu.be/uB61rfeeAsM

• link: https://youtu.be/uB61rfeeAsM

The decomposed video was great to watch.

• link: https://nhpbs.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.oate.lp_energywe

When you picture the lowest levels of the food chain, you might imagine herbivores happily munching on lush, living green plants. But this idyllic image leaves out a huge (and slightly less appetizing) source of nourishment: dead stuff. John C. Moore details the "brown food chain," explaining how such unlikely delicacies as pond scum and animal poop contribute enormous amounts of energy to our ecosystems. [Directed by TED-Ed, narrated by George Zaidan].

• link: https://www.ted.com/talks/john_c_moore_and_eric_berlow_dead_stuff_the_secre

I found the following video very helpful for this whole lesson: http://video.nhptv.org/video/1491195223/

I also recommend Composting: Nature's Recylers, by Robin Koontz.

• link: http://video.nhptv.org/video/1491195223/

Americans throw a lot of food away, and that’s having a huge impact on the environment. A study by the UN Agriculture and Land commission found that if buried food scraps in landfills were a country of their own they would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet. New Mexicans are working to keep food out of the landfill, but the efforts are ripe with challenge.

• link: http://kunm.org/post/turning-food-trash-treasure

We're planning making this cheap worm com poster for our worm study.

• link: http://www.attainable-sustainable.net/make-a-worm-composter-for-less-than-f

This was a good website with pictures for explaining the role of decomposers in an ecosystem.

http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/marssim/simhtml/info/whats-a-decomposer.html

• link: http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/marssim/simhtml/info/whats-a-decom

Episode of Magic School Bus dealing with decomposition. You can watch it online at a number of different places (google "Magic School Bus Rot Squad" and click the video tab for all the options)

• link: http://www.gamequarium.org/dir/SqoolTube_Videos/Science/Biology/Life_Cycle/