and into the .

Along the way, Wally bumped into Sammy the Spider, his best friend, and they decided to go towards the

and into the ,

A Vermicomposting Guide for Teachers

over the ,

A Vermicomposting Guide for Teachers

across the ,

and back to the .

Activities by Subject

The following are “starting points” grouped by subject matter that you may wish to use in developing a lesson correlated to your worm bin.

Art

• Illustrate your worm story.
• Make a poster of “Good and Bad Worm Food Items” to display near your bin.

English/Language Arts

• Write a story or poem about a worm.
• Keep a worm bin journal. You can make the journal out of paper that has already been used on one side.

Math

• Teach fractions with the quadrant feeding system.
• Determine the water-to-bedding ratio.
• Calculate how much food waste you divert from your classroom/cafeteria by using your worm bin.
• Teach extrapolation by conducting a population count of one quadrant and then figuring the bin’s entire population.

Music

• Write lyrics, create a dance routine or hand motions to a song about natural resources and/or vermicomposting. Have the class perform

the song and dance at Open House to teach students and parents what they learned.

• Explore other culturals. How are rain sticks made and what are their purpose?

Nutrition

• Determine how much energy can be produced by eating certain quantities of food.
• What vitamins and minerals are stored in fruits and vegetables.

Science

• Observe worm anatomy under a dissecting microscope.
• Use vermicompost to grow plants. Compare the growth rate of plants by using varying levels of casting mixtures.
• Discuss the soil cycle.
• Discuss decomposers and scavengers.
• Have students research worm secretions and find information on their medical uses for burn patients.
• Make a poster of the life cycle of a seed or a worm.

Social Studies/History

• Research the history of waste management in California/the world.
• Research the history of America’s farmland topsoil and how this as effected California’s agriculture, and economy.
• Research how reduce, reuse and recycling concepts and practices have become more socially acceptable.

Service Learning

• Research how a local restaurant or cafeteria in your community disposes of its food waste. Help the owner or manager devise a plan to divert that waste from the landfill and put the plan into action!

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

The Adventures of Vermi the Worm!

We have a new way for your students to learn about vermicomposting!

Would you like to energize your lesson plan? Would your students get excited about learning if they got to use the computer? If you answered “Yes!” to

either of these questions, then we have the teaching tool you’ve been looking for. It’s an animated, interactive Web site-The Adventures of Vermi the Worm!-that teaches the basics of vermicomposting and its benefits, as

well as the “3R’s” of waste manage-ment—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!

Your students will go on an adventure with Vermi the Worm as he visits a school garden and hooks up with his buddies, Bubba the Worm, Hugh Hammer, Sunny Flower, and Trashcan. At each stop, students will view something about vermicomposting or the 3R’s and have the chance to participate interactively by helping their new buddies. At the worm bin, they’ll

help regulate a worm’s habitat; at the garden, they’ll do an experiment using vermicompost; with Trashcan, they’ll make choices on how to

reduce, reuse, recycle, and vermicompost-thus saving items from ending up in the garbage. And there’s much more!

This activity can be used in conjunction with classroom lessons, as part of school gardening activities, or as a self-contained, computer-based experience for your students. Use it with small

groups or let students encounter it individually. “The Adventures of Vermi the Worm!” would make great use of computer lab time for your

students.

These activities are correlated to the State content standards. Correlations can be found on the teacher’s page located within the site. Though the site was designed at the 3rd grade level, you may find it applicable

for younger and older students. So, give it

a try and then share it with your students! System requirements for using the Vermi the Worm Web site (approximate size, 9 MB):

Microsoft Internet Explorer with Flash 5 plug-in.

Pentium 166 with 64 MB of RAM minimum, Pentium II with 128 MB of RAM preferred. Any PowerPC Macintosh with 64 MB of RAM. Windows 95 or MacOS 8.5 minimum operating

system minimum, Windows 2000 or MacOS 9.1

preferred. 56K modem minimum connection speed, ISDN, DSL, T1 or cable modem preferred.

Web site address: www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Vermi/.

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

Case Studies

Davis Joint Unified School District Food Waste Diversion Project

Submitted by Cynthia M. Havstad UC Davis School Gardens Project Davis, California

On an average day in Davis, California, each elementary school in the Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) generates approximately 140 pounds of waste from student lunches. This is enough for every school to fill two-thirds of a dumpster with trash from

lunch each school day, 176 days of the year. The items that take up the most room in the trash can are the 200 to

300 disposable trays on which hot lunch is served. The cost the DJUSD pays for disposing of these trays is more than $1,300 per school—much higher than the three-cents-per-tray purchase price!

Slightly more than 100 pounds of the daily lunch waste is food. On a yearly basis, that adds up to 9.2 tons per school, about as

much as would fill nine dumpsters at each of the eight elementary schools in Davis. What’s more, almost one-fourth of all the “trash”

thrown away every day is edible food-unopened packaged hot-lunch items such as burritos and bags of carrots, full cartons of milk, and untouched apples.

Compostable food waste is also generated every lunch period—about 15 pounds from each school. This food waste can be fed to worms or put in a compost pile, thus reducing the waste

stream, cutting disposal costs, and providing students with hands-on learning activities that can be used to meet State standards.

Understanding the tremendous educational potential for students, the Davis Farm to School Connection thus established a pilot project (DJUSD Food Waste Diversion Project), funded by the California Integrated

Waste Management Board, to develop and test site-specific systems reducing lunch waste at three elementary schools (Birch Lane Elementary, Cesar Chavez Elementary, and Pioneer Elementary Schools). The Davis Farm to School Connection (a project of the Davis Educational Foundation) is a coalition of district staff, parents, and community members with a vision to educate and nourish students through a farm- and garden-based experience. The coalition has raised funds to integrate school garden-based educational activities with opportunities for students to eat from locally supplied salad bars, compost lunch food waste, visit local farms, and cook in the classroom-all with the goals of increasing enthusiasm for learning, improving eating habits, and guiding students to become mindful caretakers of their community and the environment.

The DJUSD Food Waste Diversion Project included vermicomposting, composting, food rescue efforts, and a switch to an offer-vs.-serve food service plan. At all schools in Davis, including the three sites for this project, the DJUSD nutrition service director implemented a lunch program that offered students choices of hot lunch items. Providing students with a choice at lunch can reduce the waste stream. Also, at all three project sites, the organic wastes generated from student lunches and school gardens were composted or vermicomposted. The methods of composting included a mid-scale composting system with an enzyme pretreatment, mid-scale composting and vermicomposting systems without pretreatment, and a classroom-scale vermicomposting system. Rescue of edible, unopened food was included in the project at two of the three sites, Cesar Chavez and Pioneer Elementary Schools. To further reduce the lunch waste stream, molded fiber trays replaced the polystyrene (“Styrofoam”) trays previously used for hot lunches at Cesar Chavez and Pioneer Elementary Schools.

Unique to Pioneer Elementary School was

the introduction of a salad bar. The salad bar, which is called the “Crunch Lunch,” was offered as an alternative to the hot

lunch. Students are given the choice between the hot lunch and a salad with fresh, locally grown fruits and vegeta

bles. Davis Farm to School Connection wants to introduce this concept, along with gardens and recycling projects, to every school in Davis.

At Pioneer, the salad bar was tremendously popular: an average of 179 students, with as many as 300, chose a salad every day it was offered. The

number of hot lunches served declined from an average of 235 the previous year to 114 after the Crunch Lunch was

available. Remarkably, the food waste

portion of the lunch waste stream at Pioneer decreased in volume by more than one-third after introduction of the

salad bar. Even more dramatically, the edible food being thrown away decreased by more than 60 percent—34 pounds of unopened packaged food and whole fruits were thrown away daily before the Crunch

Lunch was available; only 14 pounds per day, after its introduction. Students clearly throw away less food when they are given the choice

of a salad for lunch.

Each of the three school sites was able to successfully divert food waste and implement effective composting systems for handling that waste. Two of the three schools significantly reduced the total school waste stream, achieving 47 percent

and 50 percent reductions by the end of the pilot year and saving the district $6,230 in disposal fees alone. This does not include savings

generated by decreasing the time the custodian spends handling lunch waste or reducing the trash bags and cans used. And, because the reductions were phased in over the course of the school year, it is projected that continuing the project for the 2001-2002 school year at the same three sites could save the district $13,675 in disposal fees.

That is equivalent to an approximate savings of $6.60 per student. Multiplied across the school district, the savings would be even more significant!

Lessons and Recommendations

The three pilot sites demonstrated different strengths in one or more components of the project: reducing waste, integrating the project into the curriculum, or bringing information about lunch waste diversion to the community. Some of the lessons that were revealed from each school program, and the recommendations that follow from them, are:

1. It cannot be assumed that the school district will recognize the value of modeling integrated waste management practices and thus giving students the opportunity to practice solutions to the environmental problems they are learning about in their classes, even when such solutions decrease waste hauling costs. It is therefore very important that any waste reduction projects first identify and cultivate the support of the school board and district superintendent as early in the process as possible.
2. The site coordinator is more than an addition to the custodial staff, as that person’s responsibilities include creating a site team, evaluating and reducing the waste stream, and facilitating integration of the program into the curriculum. Paying that person for the 1.5 hours per day required to fulfill those responsibilities is critical.
3. Implementing, managing, and integrating a lunch waste diversion project into the school curricula involves much work and should utilize a team that includes the site coordinator, teachers, staff, students, and parents. Students are valuable members of the team, which then makes the project an excellent educational opportunity. The high school service/learning program could

25

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

also be a valuable partner to a lunch waste diversion project, providing high school students to site teams while offering them an opportunity to meet service-learning requirements.

1. Having a memorandum of understanding signed by principals, site coordinators, and district staff would clarify everyone’s roles and commitments.
2. Audits are critical to designing appropriate composting or vermicomposting systems, keeping the project within budget, and preventing composting problems.
3. Disposable trays make up the largest portion of the lunch waste stream. It can cost as much or more to throw

them away as to purchase them. Substituting recyclable or compostable trays is thus very important in reducing waste disposal costs. “Carry out” trays are a lightweight cardboard and are recyclable in Davis, even when contaminated with some food waste. The district purchased these trays with a child nutrition message on them from Sysco at $13.10 per case of 500.

7. Edible food is also a significant portion of the lunch waste, on a per-weight basis. Policies on food sharing and returning unopened food to

the district’s food services or donating it to off-site sources must be developed. Distributing information on the Good Samaritan Act* would facilitate this process.

8. There are often others who are using the school’s waste containers. Identifying those who have access to the dumpster and encouraging

their participation or preventing their access to the containers is important.

9. Salad bars do not generate additional lunch waste, though they do change the nature of the waste stream. More compostable food is

generated, but significantly less edible food is thrown away.

*The Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act is legislation providing protection to citizens, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that donate, recover, and distribute excess food in good faith (42 United States Code, section 1791).

The Future of Lunch Waste Diversion in the Davis Joint Unified School District

Eight additional elementary and junior high schools in Davis have indicated interest in composting or vermicomposting lunch waste next year. To support start-up at new school sites, funding commitments to purchase sorting stations for each school ($300 value each) and for photocopy costs for parent outreach ($300 per school) have been made by Davis Waste Removal and the City of Davis. Responding to the interest while also “growing” the program at a moderate rate, the Davis Farm to School Connection proposed that the program be continued at Birch Lane, Cesar Chavez, and Pioneer, and that it be started at three additional schools next year. If each school reduces its waste stream by 40 percent, as demonstrated the first year, the total projected savings of $32,490 would more than cover the cost of the program.

Although the DJUSD has determined it is not willing to financially support any lunch waste diversion efforts, there is sufficient interest and dedication on the part of parents, teachers, and staff to continue diverting food from the lunch waste stream at the current and new sites without funding from the school district. Such a program will focus on composting or vermicomposting food waste and the associated educational opportunities for students, modeling environmentally sound practices for our students, and integrating the composting program into our school garden program, as part of the vision of the Davis Farm to School Connection. Reducing the lunch waste volume or reducing the disposal costs for the district will not be stated as goals. The Davis Farm to School Connection will continue to encourage the district superintendent and school board to support a district-wide lunch waste diversion program, based on the success of and knowledge gained from the pilot project.

For more information on the Davis Joint Unified School District Food Waste Diversion Project, please contact Cynthia Havstad at cmhavstad@ucdavis.edu.

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The following article about Pioneer Elementary School’s lunch salad bar, “‘Crunch lunch’ in Davis,” appeared in The Sacramento Bee April 13, 2001. Text and photographs used with permission. Photographs by Jay Mather.

“Crunch lunch” in Davis

A buffet of locally grown produce offers a fresh alternative to much-maligned school cafeteria fare.

By Pamela Martineau, Bee Staff Writer

Plastic-wrapped, microwaveable slabs of pizza sat unopened and uneaten at the hot-lunch table at Pioneer

Elementary School in Davis on Thursday as kids lined up to buy the school’s new, organic “crunch lunch.”

A buffet of vegetables and fruits grown

on local farms, Pioneer’s new “crunch lunch” program offers kids an organic alternative to the much-maligned school

lunch fare that has been eaten by children for decades.

“That’s really old,” Matthew Heard, 10, said of the pizza being offered across the room. “This is brand new.”

Alyssa Gutierrez, 10, said she thought the “crunch lunch” salad bar was “great.” For $1.75, the same price as the traditional school lunch, she was able to eat a lot of her favorite fruits.

The new lunch program is envisioned by organizers as a way to offer children healthier food while teaching them about agriculture and

nutrition.

Funded through grants from the California Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as private donation, the program also supports local farms by using their produce in schools.

“The farmers market salad bar at Pioneer builds on our vision of a garden in every school where the kids are growing healthy food and have a chance to see

some of the same seasonal fresh foods grown by local farmers at their school lunch counter.” said Delaine Eastin, state superintendent of public instruction.

Many students bypass the traditional hot-lunch line for the salad bar. “This is brand new,” says Matthew Heard, 10.

At Pioneer, children work in the school gardens learning which fruits and vegetables are in season and what they need to grow. But only a few of the vegetables in the school garden make it into the salad bar. Most of the salad bar fare is from local farms.

Jamie Buffington, director of the Pioneer school garden program, also works with the children to encourage composting and recycling. And the children visit local farms on field trips.

Volunteer Mary Lust helps second-graders Jamon Turner, 7, left, Nasa Okamoto, 7, and Michelle Hansen, 8, select lettuce leaves for Thursday’s salad bar. As part of Pioneer Elementary School’s new “crunch lunch” program, kids are growing a small organic garden.

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

Pioneer is the first Davis school to open an organic salad bar. Organizers hope to open another next month at Cesar

Chavez Elementary School. Eventually, they hope to have an organic salad bar in every Davis school.

Teaching good nutrition is key to the Farm to School program. Renata Brillinger, who coordinates the program for the Davis Joint School District, said an adult will be on hand at each salad bar as the children load up their plates, making sure they get enough protein and a healthy mix of food. Each salad bar offers a complete meal

of six to eight seasonal vegetables or fruits and two or three protein-rich food such as eggs, tuna fish, beans and

turkey.

The Farm to School program is part of the California Department of Education’s push to teach healthier eating habits to children in an effort to cut down on the childhood obesity that is plaguing the nation.

A nutrition specialist at the University of California at Davis is evaluating the salad bar program for the state Department of Education. The School to Farm program is modeled after similar ventures in Santa Monica and Berkeley.

Copyright, The Sacramento Bee, 2001

Making a Difference: One Piece of Paper at a Time

(Jiminy Cricket’s Environmentality Challenge—2000–2001 Grand Prize Project)

Submitted by Deni Lopez Park View Center School Simi Valley, California

School Description: Park View Center School is a K–6 school serving 630 students. Approximately one-third of the student body consists of second-language learners; the class has two non-English-speaking (Spanish-speaking) students. The school has 32 special education students who participate in the school. Park View is a Title 1 school (low-income) serving a large population of at-risk students and their families.

Project Title: Making a Difference: One Piece of Paper at a Time

Project Goal: Reduce trash the school sends to the landfill and educate the school and community on how to recycle and reduce.

Project Description

• Reconstructed existing school worm farm that had been abandoned (when the teacher who built it went to another school) and later vandalized.
• Worms now consume 30 pounds of cafeteria food every day.
• Produced 96 cubic feet of vermicompost (as of March, 2001).
• Recharged and expanded school recycling program.
• Recycled school food waste from cafeteria to feed the worms.
• Reduced the amount of food going to the landfill daily by 50 percent (from between 60 and 90 pounds to between 30 and 45 pounds).

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• Recycled school paper, plastic, glass, and metal to raise money.
• Established permanent recycling area.
• Conducted recycling drives.
• Created a papermaking factory in the classroom.
• Used school recycled paper to create new paper for art projects and to produce items for sale.
• Built dehydrator to use in papermaking process.
• Revitalized school garden soil by incorporating vermicompost.
• Educated others on how to recycle school waste, why it is important to recycle, how to care for worms, problems fac

ing the Simi Valley Landfill, and how to make paper.

• Held a Worm and Recycling Education assembly for the entire school.
• Provided mini worm farms for each class room (27).
• Conducted classroom presentations on recycling and papermaking.
• Developed educational posters to hang at school.
• Developed a “Sorting Paper Game Board.”
• Participated in districtwide Math-Science Olympiad Day (sponsored by district math mentors).
• Had an educational booth at local Farm Fest (April 28, 2001).
• Wrote to other schools in district offering

to teach them how to implement recycling/composting programs.

• Six other teachers in district now have vermicomposting programs.
• Fundraising.
• Sold worms.
• Sold vermicompost.
• Sold mini worm farms nationally.
• Wrote, produced, and sold mini worm farm instruction book.
• Sold homemade paper products (journals, scented squares, greeting cards, art projects).
• Held recycling drive.
• Funds raised were donated to aid India earthquake victims ($650) and used to purchase new recycling bins for 25 classes.
• Sold mini worm farms at local Farm Fest (April 28, 2001).

Curriculum Connections

This project was tied to the California content standards, particularly in language arts and mathematics. It covered requirements for reading, writing, written and oral language, listening and speaking, number sense, algebra, geometry, statistics and data, and math reasoning. Of particular interest:

• The amount of items in regular trash that could have been recycled was tracked, by grade level. That number was then equated to kilowatts of electricity wasted, gallons of water wasted, numbers of trees wasted, and unearned money. Recycling rates were evaluated before and after the Worm and Recycling Education assembly; recycling rates increased.

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

• Language arts skills were developed through recycling and worm care

research, letterwriting, developing oral presentations and lessons, and expository writing.

• On the Stanford 9 Test, this class made dramatic gains of 9 to 15 percent over the previous year’s scores in the areas of reading, math, and language. More specifically, 5 out of 29 students scored “Advanced” on California’s content standards and 10 out of 29 scored “Proficient.” This means over 50 percent of the class was proficient on the content standards. By contrast,

only 20 percent of the new students at

Park View Center School and 30 percent of the students in the entire

State of California scored “Proficient.”

For more information on the Making a Difference project, please contact Deni Lopez at (805) 520-6758.

Garden of Learning

Submitted by Kelli Wessman Louisiana Schnell Elementary School Placerville, California

The garden at Louisiana Schnell Elementary School started in much the same way as other school gardens. Teachers and administrators, enthused by the potential of a garden as an outdoor classroom, rounded up parent volunteers and a small amount of funding, resulting in a garden as a part of the school landscape.

The Schnell School Garden

Once the garden was built, the key players worked out the logistics of providing access for 20 classes every week of the school year. It was a daunting task. The school’s 450 students were organized into small groups so they could efficiently and effectively carry out their garden activities. The groups are led by teachers and volunteer “garden parents” from each classroom. These parent

volunteers receive ongoing instruction and training to ensure the program’s sustainability. They work closely with teachers and with a school garden coordinator, and/or a committee of coordinators. In the garden, students participate in weekly activity plans covering a variety of subjects.

The activity plans not only educate students, but also provide opportunities to do work in a garden or perform garden-related activities. Activity plans may call for a student to work necessary fertilizers into the soil or use a soil-test kit to learn about pH. Many of the mid-winter activities have indoor components.

Students do all of the hands-on work in the garden under parent and teacher supervision. In the summer, the garden goes essentially unattended. It is mulched heavily to prevent weeds, watered by an automatic sprinkler system, and then cleaned up when students return to a new school year in August. Then they harvest the autumn crop (planted during the previous spring) and prepare for planting the winter crops. The students continue to nurture the garden throughout the school year.

Students use organic gardening techniques to raise vegetables, flowers, and herbs. They tend the garden, tilling and weeding it. Ultimately, they eat part of what they produce, and sell the remainder at their own “farmer’s market” during the spring to help sustain the program.

The garden program also provides a tremendous spectrum of experience-based learning that includes composting and vermicomposting activities. Students build compost piles, observing and comparing the rate of decomposition for various materials. This activity teaches them about scientific observation skills and the obstacles society faces with waste management.

Vermicomposting is a large part of the garden program. It is implemented throughout the year because it is so popular with the students.

30

At the beginning of every school year, students “rebuild” the contents of their huge “Worm Motel.” Then for the remainder of the year students recycle lunch

and garden scraps to feed the worms. The school’s lunch staff supervises and monitors the students as they separate

out compostable materials from the food and garden waste. In the middle of winter, students “check out” worms from the Worm Motel. They enjoy examining and studying the worms, learning about their physical anatomy and about their role in enriching the soil. At the end of the school year, before students replant the garden to

which they will return in autumn, they remove castings from the Worm Motel and dig them into the garden plots to

enrich the soil.

Activities with worms and composting are only a fraction of what is done in the Garden of Learning program. Teachers integrate weekly garden activities with classroom studies. The garden is used to enhance skills in reading, writing, math, nutrition, social studies, science, and fine arts.

Connecting the Garden to Classroom Instruction

As the very foundation of this school garden program is the Garden of Learning, a curriculum and organizational system for running elementary school garden programs. The Garden of Learning program was developed by Kelli Wessman, Schnell School’s garden coordinator, and has evolved since 1990. More than a dozen

California schools use the Garden of Learning program, with Kelli as a consultant. The program’s mission is to establish garden

programs that teach a wide variety of subjects and can be sustained over many years at minimal cost, by careful organizing and making good use of parent and community volunteers.

Garden of Learning is an example of how, by integrating real-life, hands-on activities that are closely linked to classroom curriculum, students come away with rich and meaningful experiences. A well-structured garden program benefits children in many ways:

1. Fosters a sense of ownership and pride in their school.
2. Provides a focus for learning that engages all of a child’s learning styles.
3. Develops a true cooperative spirit as children work together toward a common goal.
4. Provides a respite from the busy school life by allowing children to focus on a task in a smaller, quieter setting.
5. Provides for children an understanding of what nurturing means-in the process of protecting and nurturing plants, they are themselves nurtured.

Garden of Learning programs don’t require a large cash outlay. They typically receive financial support from discretionary funds available to school site councils and from parent clubs. Community service clubs, local farm associations, and other local groups often make cash contributions. Garden expenses are managed through partnerships with local nurseries and hardware stores, which supply materials and tools. Garden fundraising events generate both financial help and community excitement. The largest fundraising event tends to be an annual farmer’s market, usually held in the spring and during Open House.

For information on Garden of Learning, contact: Kelli Wessman / 2400 Wild Goose Canyon Road / Placerville, CA 95667 / (530) 626-1083.

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

Appendix A

••• Educational Materials

• Closing the Loop: Exploring Integrated

Waste Management and Resource Conservation, California Integrated Waste Management Board, Sacramento

California. (916) 341-6769

www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Schools/

• Do the Rot Thing: A Teacher’s Guide to Compost Activities, Alameda County Waste Management Authority and Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board, San Leandro,

California. (510) 635-6275

www.stopwaste.org/fseducate.html

• Composting Across the Curriculum,

Marin County Office of Waste Management, San Rafael, California. (415) 499-6647

• Creepy Crawlies for Curious Kids, Lynn

Ransford, Teacher Created Materials, Inc., Sunset Beach, California.

www.buyteachercreated.com/product1.html

• Critters, AIMS Education Foundation (Grades K-6), AIMS Program Publications, Fresno Pacific College, P.O. Box 8120, Fresno, California 937478120.

wwws.aimsedu.org

(then select “Online Catalog,” then select “Books K–3”).

• Earthworms Teacher’s Guide, Robert Knott, Kimi Hosoume, and Lincoln Bergman. Great Explorations in Math & Science Program,

Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley.

www.lhs.berkeley.edu/GEMS/gemsguides.html

•“Getting Hooked on Worms” in Grow Lab: Activities for Growing Minds, pp. 214–221,

National Gardening Association, 180 Flynn Avenue, Burlington, Vermont 05401.

• The Wonderful World of Wigglers, A Common Roots Guidebook, Julia Hand. Food Works, Montpelier, Vermont.
• Worms Eat Our Garbage, Mary Appelhof, Mary Frances Fenton, Barbara Loss Harris. Flower Press, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Appendix B

••• Web Sources •• Vermicomposting

• The Worm Woman

Mary Appelhof’s site for worm composting offers a list of helpful resources and equipment for both home and classroom worm bins.

www.wormwoman.com

• Worms!

The California Integrated Waste Management Board addresses the recovery of organic resources. Teachers and students can learn the role of vermicomposting and find a list of worm and worm bin suppliers by county.

www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Organics/Worms/

•• Composting

• Composting for Home Gardens

You will find helpful definitions of com posting terms and examples of differ ent types of available bins, provided by North Carolina State University.

www.ces.ncsu.edu/hil/hil-8100.html

• Composting in Schools

The reader will learn in detail the sci ence and engineering of composting, ideas for student research projects, composting resource materials, glossary of composting terms, and a composting quiz! There are numerous science project lessons for students in grades 6 through 12.

www.cfe.cornell.edu/compost /schools.html

• Compost Made Simple

Envirocare of America provides clear, detailed diagrams showing layers in a compost pile, along with composting tips.

www.envirocare.net/simple.htm

• RotWeb!

RotWeb! provides detailed information about home composting and a how-to guide for starting a composting system. The reader will also find a resource book list and information on demonstration sites. Rot Web is interested in listing your classroom’s project on its Web site.

www.kidsgardening.com

• www.mastercomposter.com

You will find appropriate methods for composting organic materials, instructions for building bins, information on

vermicomposting, and information on compost methods other than piles or worm bins. The “Find Your Local Program” search function allows you to search for contacts and training programs in your local area.

www.mastercomposter.com

•• Agriculture

• California Foundation for Agriculture in theClassroom

Information on teacher training, student programs, and resource materials support the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom’s outreach to educators and students.

www.cfaitc.org/

•• Garden/School Garden

•Composting: Nature’s Recycling Program

Environmental Defense describes how to start a waste prevention initiative in your school, giving the public information about what to compost, how compost is made, and needed supplies, as well as a case study and a quiz to test your compost knowledge.

www.edf.org/heap

• Garden in Every School Registry

Register your school garden, or identify existing gardens in your area.

www.kidsgardening.com/school /searchform.html

• Instructional School Garden Grants

The California Department of Education’s Nutrition Services Division offers competitive grants for school gardens.

www.cde.ca.gov/nsd/nets/fo index.htm

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• School Gardens

The University of California Cooperative Extension of San Diego County provides resources, tips, and activities specific to elementary school gardens.

http://commserv.ucdavis.edu/CESanDiego /Schlgrdn/HomePage.html

• Urban Agriculture Notes: School Gardens

Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture provides examples of how to maintain a school garden and the benefits it creates as a living learning center for children.

www.cityfarmer.org/schgard15.html

• School Garden Teacher Training and Support

The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center provides teacher training and support for school gardens in Sonoma County and around the Bay Area.

www.oaec.org/OAEC Services.shtml

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#school

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

• Starting School GardensThe California Department of Education offers many helpful publications and

newsletters related to starting school gardens. www.cde.ca.gov/nsd/nets/g _– pubn.htm

• Integrated Environmental Studies Environmental Education, Native American Lands: A Cultural Approach to Integrated Environmental Studies is a comprehensive lesson plan, which includes several activities encompassing waste management. Check out lessons 46,

• The Edible SchoolyardThe working garden at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley, California, teaches school children, along with the community, the value of

47, and 48 on school composting, vermiculture, and school gardening. By participating in these activities, primary and secondary grade students will understand the process

and benefits of how waste materials become ^{nature, gardening, and working} useful to the soil through decomposition. ^{together. Children work in the garden} www.epa.gov/tribalmsw/educout.htm#k-12

and help prepare meals from produce grown on site. • Junior Master Gardener www.edibleschoolyard.org/ Junior Master Gardener is an international youth

gardening program that uses fun

• Youth Garden Grants The National Gardening Association offers 400 garden grants annually

throughout the United States.

activities to teach horticulture and environmental science concepts. www.jmgkids.com

www.kidsgardening.com/grants.asp • The Master Gardeners

The University of California Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardeners Program pro_{•• Miscellaneous} vides seminars, workshops, demonstrations, and plant clinics on gar

• Resources for Students and Teachers dening/horticultural science to groups of

Alameda County Waste Management Authority offers free worm bins and compost bins, along with many other free resources and information

on field trips and school grants, for teachers and schools in Alameda County. www.stopwaste.org/fseducate.html

all ages. The page also provides numerous links for the consumer and backyard grower. http://fruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu /masgar.html

• United States Department of

_{• Earthworm Ecology in California}Agriculture: Browse USDA Web Site by

Interesting information is presented on relatives of the red worm-earthworms! http://danr.ucop.edu/ihrmp/oak99.htm

Subject The United States Department of Agriculture site addresses issues such as food recovery and nutrition education.

• Food Scrap Managementwww.usda.gov/subject/subject.html

The California Integrated Waste Management Board offers food scrap prevention tips and ^{• Worm Talk!} suggestions for both on- and off-site ^{Post questions and answers about a}

_composting. variety of worm-related topics on this _{www.ciwmb.ca.gov/FoodWaste/} site belonging to the Happy D Ranch Worm Farm.

www.happydranch.com/wormtalk /index.cgi

Appendix C

••• Reuse Options

• California Materials Exchange California Materials Exchange (CalMAX) is a statewide materials exchange

program sponsored by the California Integrated Waste Management Board and is generally advertised as “the waste-not want ads” for businesses, industry, nonprofit organizations, and institutions.” (877) 520-9703 (toll-free) calmax@ciwmb.ca.gov

www.ciwmb.ca.gov/CalMAX/

• KidMAX KidMAX is a specific part of CalMAX and is the catchphrase for promoting CalMAX

in California’s schools. KidMAX offers free and/or bargain-priced materials and free advertisements (for wanted or available materials). (877) 520-9703 (toll-free) calmax@ciwmb.ca.gov

www.ciwmb.ca.gov/CalMAX/KidMAX.htm

• California Local Material Exchange (MiniMAX)Programs

The MiniMAX program provides local material exchange listings for specific counties throughout the state that includes a variety of reuse and recycling resources that will help California public school teachers and administrators. From art supplies and computers to environmental curricula, teachers and school administrators will find resources to enrich their classrooms.

www.ciwmb.ca.gov/CalMAX/MiniMAXs.htm

• L.A. County Materials Exchange Program Jennifer Nguyen
• A. County Department of Public Works Environmental Programs Division 900 S. Fremont Avenue, 3rd Floor Annex Alhambra, CA 91803-1331 (626) 458-2196

Fax: (626) 458-3593 JENGUYEN@dpw.co.la.ca.us

www.ladpw.org/epd/lacomax/

• Napa County Materials Exchange Program

City of Napa Public Works Department Waste Reduction and Recycling Coordinator

P.O. Box 660Napa, CA 94559-0660 (707) 257-9520 ext.7291 Fax: (707) 257-9522 kmiller@cityofnapa.org

• Santa Cruz County Materials Exchange Program Contact: Ecology Action

P.O. Box 1188Santa Cruz, CA 95061-1188 (831) 426-5925 ext. 28 vaguiar@ecoact.org

www.ecoact.org/zero _–waste/promax.html

• Shasta County Materials Exchange Program Contact: The City of Redding

P.O. Box 496071Solid Waste Utility 2255 Abernathy Lane Redding, CA 96049-6071 (530) 224-6201 fsmith@ci.redding.ca.us

www.ci.redding.ca.us /solwaste/smpage.htm

• Sonoma County Materials Exchange Program

Contact: Sonoma County Waste Management Agency 575 Administration Drive, Room 117A Santa Rosa, CA 95403 (707) 565-3668 Eco-Desk Hotline: (707) 565-DESK (3375) sonomax@ap.net

www.recyclenow.org/sonomax/

• Solano-Napa Builder’s Exchange 135 Camino Dorado Napa, CA 94558 (707) 255-2515 Fax: (717) 255-2749

http://evp@snbe.com

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

• Ventura County Materials Exchange Program

Contact: Ventura County Solid Waste

Management Department 800 S. Victoria Avenue Ventura, CA 93009-1650

(805) 648-9226 Fax: (805) 648-9233

www.vcmax.org

v School- and Vermicomposting-Related Reuse Stores

There are many school- and vermicomposting-related reuse stores that carry different types of materials

useful for teachers and/or schools. An “NP” designation indicates a group’s nonprofit status, and “GOV” indicates a governmental agency.

••Art Supplies and Materials

• Art from Scrap (NP) Community Environmental Council 302 East Cota

Santa Barbara, CA 93101 (805) 884-0459 Fax: (805) 884-1879

afs@rain.org

www.communityenvironmentalcouncil.org /artfromscrap/

• Creative Reuse, North Bay (NP)

P.O. Box 1802Santa Rosa, CA 95402-1802 (707) 546-3340

• East Bay Depot Center for Creative Reuse (NP) 6713 San Pablo Avenue Oakland, CA 94608

(510) 547-6470 Fax: (510) 655-6536

• Scroungers’ Center for Reusable Art Parts (SCRAP) (NP)

801 Toland Street San Francisco, CA 94124 (415) 647-1746 Fax: (415) 587-1768 scrap@storyvault.org

www.aubergines.com/scrap/

• Student Creative Recycle Art Program (S.C.R.A.P.) Gallery (NP)

Riverside County Fairgrounds 46-350 Arabia Street Indio, CA 92201 (760) 863-7777 Fax: (760) 863-8973 scrapgallery@earthlink.net

www.infoteam.com/nonprofit/scrapgallery

•• Book Supplies

• Books for the Barrios (NP) Books for the Barrios delivers mass quantities of quality educational materials, procured from donor individuals and the discards of U.S. public school districts, to the most remote disadvantaged schools in developing countries. 1125 Widget Lane Walnut Creek, CA 94598 (925) 687-7701 Fax: (925) 687-8298 joinus@booksforthebarrios.com

www.booksforthebarrios.com/

• Sacramento Surplus Book Room (NP) The Sacramento Surplus Book Room facilitates the collection and distribution of surplus textbooks, providing quality textbooks to schools, teachers, children, and parents. 4121 Power Inn Road Sacramento, CA 95826 (916) 454-3459 Fax: (916) 454-0118 info@bookroom.org

www.bookroom.org

•• Food Rescue Programs

www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Reuse/Links/Food.htm

•• School Materials and Supplies

• L.A. SHARES (NP) 3224 Riverside Drive Los Angeles, CA 90027

(213) 485-1097 Fax: (213) 485-9237

www.lashares.org

• Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT) (NP)

1355 Ridder Park Drive

San Jose, CA 95131

(408) 451-1420

Fax: (408) 451-1428

raft@raft.net

www.raft.net

Appendix D

••• Worm Bin Assembly Instructions

•• Plastic Worm Bin

Transforming a plastic storage container into a

worm bin is easy. This bin can house

approximately one pound of worms, which will process approximately one pound of food waste each day.

• Materials

—

One nontransparent plastic storagecontainer (21” long x 15” wide x 12” high) with a tight-fitting lid

—

Four plastic bottle caps or wooden blocks(scrap wood blocks will work)

—

Four 5/8” screws or “super glue”

• Tools

— Power drill with 1/4” bit

Please be safe! Wear earplugs and eye protection when drilling.

• Assembly Drill holes in the bottom of the plastic bin, approximately three inches apart, for ventilation and drainage. Using either the screws or glue, attach one wooden block or plastic bottle cap underneath each of the four corners of the bin. These “feet” will allow air to circulate and liquid to drain from the base of the worm bin. Place a sheet of plastic or a tray underneath the bin to collect any liquid or castings. (Hint: An old TV tray or cookie sheet works great!)
• •• Large Wooden Worm Bin Build a wooden worm bin “estate”! Basic carpentry skills are required to construct this wooden worm bin, but if you follow the directions and diagrams, the project should be relatively simple. A wooden worm bin breathes well, so it may occasionally need watering to maintain the proper moisture content. This worm bin can house approximately four pounds of worms, which will process approximately four pounds of food waste each day.
• Cost This wooden bin can be built for about $30 with new wood and hardware, or for less money if you use recycled or scrap materials.
• Materials

Lumber

—

One 4’ x 8’ sheet of 1/2” exterior grade plywood

—

One 8-foot, 1” x 2” board

Hardware

—

Thirty-two 1” galvanized screws

—

Eight 1–1/2” galvanized screws

—

Two 3” hinges

—

Approximately 12 galvanized screws, 1/2”

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

• Tools

—

Tape measure

—

Saw

—

Two sawhorses

—

Long straight-edge or chalk snap line

—

Power drill with 1/4” bit

• Assembly

Preparation

1. Measure and cut the sheet of plywood as indicated in Diagram 1. You will then have two side pieces, two end

pieces, a base, and a top.

Base

1. Set the base panel on top of the box “walls” so the panel edges are flush with the walls.
2. Secure the base panel to the walls by drilling one 1” screw through the panel into the 1” x 2” piece at each corner of the box.
3. Using a 1/4” drill bit, drill holes into the base panel. One hole every three to four inches should allow for sufficient ventilation.
4. Cut the remaining 1” x 2” board into two 16” pieces. These will be the “feet” of the bin.
5. Set one piece on each of the base panel’s short ends, so the 2” side of each piece is against the panel.

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

Diagram 1

Bin

1. Cut four 16” pieces from the 1” x 2” board.
2. Place the 1” side of one piece against the 16” edge of an end panel. Position the piece so it is flush against the panel edge and corners.

Secure the piece to the end panel with three 1” screws. Repeat this process for the other 16” panel edge (Diagram 2).

1. Repeat step 2 for the other end panel.
2. Secure the side panels to the end panels by drilling four 1” screws through the end

of each side panel into each 1” x 2” piece at each corner of the box.

1. Secure each 1” x 2” piece using four 1–1/2” screws.
2. Flip the box over, so that the feet are touching the ground (Diagram 2).

Lid

1. Attach the two hinges to one side of the top panel (Diagram 3) using 1/2” screws.
2. Secure the lid to the box by drilling 1/2” screws through the bottom part of each hinge into the inside of one side panel. You may need extra hands to do this!

¹/2" Screws

16"

Diagram 3

•• Cinder Block Worm Bin

Cinder blocks are a great material to use

for an outdoor worm bin and can be

assembled in no time at all. The blocks

are very sturdy and aid in regulating the

internal temperature of the bin. Also, if at a

later date you decide to vermicompost with

a different type of bin, the cinder blocks can

be reused after a good spray-off to clean it

away of castings. These are instructions for

building a cinder block worm bin with the dimensions of 4’ wide x 3’ long x 2’ high. This size bin can house approximately six pounds of worms, which will process approximately six pounds of food waste per day.

• Cost

The size bin you choose determines the cost of the materials. Determine the size by analyzing the space you have available on which to house the bin and by the amount of food you are plan

ning to process. Cinder blocks and materials for

a lid can be purchased at your local hardware

store.

• Materials

Cinder Blocks

— 36 cinder blocks (12” long x 6” wide)

Note: This size cinder block will form a 4’ x 3’ rectangle. If your rectangle is any other size, you will need to modify the lumber sizes and instructions.

Lumber

—

4’2” x 3’2”, exterior grade, 1”-thick plywood

—

Two 3’ lengths of 1” x 4” lumber

—

Two 4’2” lengths of 1” x 4” lumber

Hardware

—

1–3/4” screws (at least 4.)

—

3/4” screws (approximately 38, dependingon the number of holes in the brackets and hinges you buy)

—

4–8 L-shaped brackets (Measure the distance between the cinder block hole and the block’s closest outside edge. Then add 1” to that dimension. Purchase brackets which have at least one “leg” equal to that measurement.)

—

2 hinges

—

1 latch and needed screws (optional, if you want to secure lid)

—

One 85” length of 1/2”-thick chain

—

Staples for heavy-duty staple gun

• Tools

—

Tape measure

—

Screwdriver or electric drill

—

T-Square or other device to help form right angles

—

Saw

—

Heavy-duty staple gun

Please be safe! Wear earplugs, eye protection, and a dust mask when sawing, hammering, and drilling.

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

• Assembly

1" x 2" Wood

Select an outside area where you will

house your bin. Keep convenience and

ease of maintenance in mind.

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

Bin

1. Lay out the first layer of cinder blocks, to form a 4’ x 3’ rectangle (Diagram 1). Be sure to have the holes of the blocks facing upwards. Make sure the ends of the blocks are tight against one another.

48"

36"

Diagram 1

2. Add the second and third layers of blocks, alternating the blocks for each layer so that the edges of the blocks line up in rows 1 and

3 only. Make sure that the top level of blocks is flush, so that the lid will lie evenly (Diagram 2).

Diagram 2

Lid

1. Measure the outside perimeter of your newly formed bin to be sure it is 4’ x 3’, as the

instructions that follow are intended for those exact dimensions.

2. To make the lid frame, screw together the 3’ and 4’2” length pieces of lumber, using the 1–3/4” screws to form a rectangular

frame around the rim of the cinder block bin structure (Diagram 3).

Diagram 3

1. Use four to eight brackets (either one or two on each side of the frame, depending on your preference) to secure the frame to the cinder blocks (Diagram 3). To do this, screw one leg of each bracket into the top of the frame using 3/4” screws; the other leg will extend into the cinder block hole.
2. Attach hinges to one of the 4’2” sides of the plywood lid using 3/4” screws (Diagram 4). As an option, you may decide to attach a latch to the side opposite the hinges in order to further guard against rodents and other unwanted critters.

1" x 2" Wood

Diagram 4

1. Place the lid on top of the bin so that the hinged side is at the back and the latch side is at the front. Screw the hinges into the bin frame to secure the lid to the bin using 3/4” screws. Attach the bottom part of the latch to the front of the bin frame and check to see that it opens easily.
2. Using the staple gun, attach one end of the chain to the outside edge of one side of the bin frame. Attach the other end of the chain to the outside edge of the lid.

Appendix E

••• Worm Suppliers

Our Web site provides the most current supplier information:

www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Organics/Worms/ WrmSuply.htm.

• Butte County

Hunter Brown Farms

Linda Hunter

P.O. Box 338Bangor, CA 95914 (530) 679-0115

The Worm Concern

Bill Harding 4897 Wanda Lane Forest Ranch, CA 95942 (530) 891-9233 freedude40@aol.com

• Calaveras County

Vierra’s Worm Farm

P.O. Box 2023San Andreas, CA 95249

(209) 754-5030 877-FOR-WORM (toll-free in California) info@vierraswormfarm.com

• El Dorado County

Sierra Elementary School

Jack Brabrook or Tanya Larson 1100 Thompson Way Placerville, CA 95667

(530) 622-0814

• Fresno County

Albrecht & Sons Worm Farms

Buzz Albrecht Kerman, CA (559) 846-3110 chellenbuzz@hotmail.com

The Worm Lady

Marilyn Charest 32912 Buttercup Lane Squaw Valley, CA 93675-9774 (559) 332-2168 wormlady@spiralcom.net

• Humboldt County

J & T’s Redworms

Tim Matthews Blue Lake, CA (707) 668-5997 dairyworms@humboldt1.com

www.humboldt1.com/dairyworms/

Gess Environmental

Andrew Jolin

P.O. Box 942Fortuna, CA 95540 (707) 786-4483 Fax: (707) 786-4170 gessenv@razorlogic.com

• Inyo County

As The Worm Turns

Mitch and Libby Vassar 2765 Sunset Road Bishop, CA 93514 (760) 873-3308

• Kern County

California Worm Growers

Mike Chamberlain 1308B North Inyo Street Ridgecrest, CA 93555 (760) 384-2441 Bob&Gin@ridgenet.net

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

Wonder Worms

John and Bonnie Mathis 1014 Kyle Court

Ridgecrest, CA 93555 (760) 371-1129 jbmathis@ridgecrest.ca.us

www.wonderworms.com

• Lake County

Lake County Worm Farm

Richard Morhar

P.O. Box 1332Kelseyville, CA 95451 (800) 399-9464 or (707) 279-8032

Fax: (707) 279-8031 wormfarm@pacific.net

www.pacific.net/~wormfarm/

• Los Angeles County

Amerigrow Farms

Carlos and Leanne Herrera

P.O. Box 11175Whittier, CA 90603-117 (562) 946-1035

Fax: (562) 946-9558 carlos.Herrera@cwix.com

Patzer Worms

Ronald Patzer 18745 Lassen Northridge, CA 91324-1963 (818) 718-8521

rpatzer@socal.rr.com

• Madera County

Foley Farms

Pat Foley

P.O. Box 617Coarsegold, CA 93614-0617 (559) 642-6264 foleys@sierratel.com

www.sierratel.com/foleys/

• Marin County

Natural Gardening Co.

David Baldwin 217 San Anselmo Avenue San Anselmo, CA 94960 (707) 766-9303 Fax: (707) 766-9747 info@naturalgardening.com

www.naturalgardening.com/shopping/

Avant Garden Vermicomposting

Point Reyes Station, CA (415) 663-1975

• Nevada County

Blue Belly Farm

Todd Spratt 20244 Poker Flat Road Penn Valley, CA 95946 (530) 432-8267 bbfworm@oneman.com

www.bluebellyfarm.com

• Placer County

Shallow Creek Ranch

Steve Smith

P.O. Box 299Foresthill, CA 95631 (530) 367-3174 scrworms@foothill.net

www.shallowcreekranch.com

• Riverside County Red Ranch Farms

Deborah Bowers or Denise Grapes Hemet, CA (909) 767-1522 (phone/fax)

www.alcasoft.com/worms/

Worms-R-Us

Bill Williams Aguana, CA (909) 767-7678 or (760) 782-0469

The Wright Worm Farm

Don and Bobbie Wright 32205 Meadow Blossom Nuevo, CA 92567

(909) 928-1485 wriwormf@gte.net

www.wrightwormfarm.com/

Biological Home Grown Farms

Tom Bennington 9960 Indiana Ave., #10 Riverside, CA 92503 (909) 359-3648 biohome@pacbell.net

VanArsdale’s Worm Farm & Sales

Frank VanArsdale San Jacinto, CA (909) 487-9269 wormguy@ivic.net

www.ivic.net~wormguy

Vermi-Cast

Walt Larsen 2502 Hidden Creek St. Corona, CA 92881 (909) 520-0047 or 877-290-5575 vermi-cast.com@vermi-cast.com

www.vermi-cast.com

Purple Mountain Farms

John Fuller 34750 Kooden Road Winchester, CA 92596 (909) 926-5269 purplemountainfarms@yahoo.com

Jabour’s Worm Farm

33050 Stagecoach Road Nuevo, CA 92567 (909) 928-5319 Fax: (909) 928-5339 mjworm@pe.net

• Sacramento County

Local Supplier of Worms/Bedding for Composting Bins

Andrea Walker Sacramento, CA (916) 631-7701 AhnieW@aol.com

• San Bernardino County

Iannone Enterprises, International

Marcia Iannone 8469 18th Street Alta Loma, CA 91701 (909) 987-2979 Fax: (909) 941-9702 miannone@earhlink.net

www.wormpoop.com

Valley Worm Growers

John Banks or Richard Hicks 100A San Bernardino Road Ridgecrest, CA 93555 (760) 371-1160 Fax: (760) 375-3317 mercury@ridgecrest.ca.us

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

Staggs Worm Farm

Larry Staggs 456 Yermo Road Yermo, CA 92398 (760) 254-2307

Pacific Southwest Farms

13182 Baker Avenue Ontario, CA 91761 (909) 923-7740 Fax: (909) 930-0896 Bmeijer@aol.com

• San Diego County

Magic Worm Ranch

Jared Peters 3163 Roadrunner Road San Marcos, CA 92069 (877) 967-6269 (toll-free) Magicworm@yahoo.com

Sharon’s Worm World

Sharon McLachlan Ramona, CA (760) 788-4423 sharonswrm@aol.com

Solana Recyclers

137 N. El Camino Real Encinitas, CA 92024 (760) 436-7986 Fax: (760) 436-7986 solana@adnc.com

www.digitalseed.com/solana

Vermicoast

Shelley Grossman 1387 Basswood Ave. Carlsbad, CA 92008-1904 (760) 434-4223 vermicoast@aol.com

www.members.aol.com/vermicoast/

• San Francisco County

Yahoo Compost

Fernando Pastor 432 Lawton Street San Francisco, CA (415) 460-WORM (9676) quesapastor@yahoo.com

Cosmo’s Red Worms

Paul Cosmides 432 Lawton Street San Francisco, CA 94122 (415) 759-7874

www.alcasoft.com/cosmos/

City Worms & Compost

1850 32nd Avenue San Francisco, CA 94112 (415) 759-6907

• Santa Clara County

As The Worm Turns

265 Friar Way Campbell, CA 95008 (408) 379-2192, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. asthewormturns@hotmail.com Local service only. No shipping available.

• Solano County

Morning Mist Worm Farm

Jim and Karen Cain

P.O. Box 1155Dixon, CA 95617 (707) 448-6836 (after 11:00 a.m.) mmcain@communityonline.net

www.morningmistwormfarms.com

• Sonoma County Bassetts Cricket Ranch, Inc.

Sonoma Valley Worm Farms

Lois and Jack Chambers

Sonoma, CA (800) 447-6996 or (707) 996-8561 Fax: (707) 935-9166

• Stanislaus County

As The Worm Turns

Tina Crummett 5020 Christofferson Road Turlock, CA 95380 (209) 669-0611

mctina320@aol.com

Bond Worm Farm, Inc.

Wanda Bond 900 Bliss Road Ceres, CA 95307

(209) 537-2423 Fax: (209) 537-3142

American Resource Recovery

Mario Travolini

Vernalis, CA (209) 541-8933 Fax: (209) 835-5560

• Tulare County

Albrecht & Sons Worm Farms

Ron Albrecht Dinuba, CA (559) 846-3110

Klalbrecht@uswest.com

Russell Basset 365 S. Mariposa Visalia, CA 93292 (559) 747-2738

www.bcrcricket.com/

C&C Vermiculture

Charmaine Harris & Carolyn Foxe 527 N. Shirk Road Visalia, CA 93291 (559) 651-3384 CCVERM@Hotmail.com

The Happy D Ranch Worm Farm

Al and Dorothy Benoy Visalia, CA (559) 738-9301 Fax: (559) 733-3250 dorothy@happydranch.com

www.happydranch.com

• Ventura County

Dusty Morgan’s Worm Farm

Jordana Adler 1336 Moorpark Road, #127 Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 (805) 496-4696 jnjorge@gte.net

• Yolo County

Morning Mist Worm Farm

Jim and Karen Cain (707) 448-6836 (after 11:00 a.m.) mmcain@communityonline.net

www.morningmistwormfarms.com

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

Appendix F

••• Worm Bin Suppliers

Our Web site provides the most current supplier information:

www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Organics/Worms /BinSuply.htm.

• El Dorado County

Enviro Care of America

South Lake Tahoe, CA (800) 889-7238 Fax: (530)-544-9056

info@envirocare.net

• Lake County

Lake County Worm Farm

Richard Morhar Kelseyville, CA (800) 399-9464 or (707) 279-8032 Fax: (707) 279-8031 wormfarm@pacific.net

www.pacific.net/~wormfarm/

• Los Angeles County

Amerigrow Farms

Carlos and Leanne Herrera Whittier, CA (626) 369-7733 Fax: (626) 369-1015 adj.herrera@prodigy.net

Triformis Corp.

Los Angeles, CA (888) 469-6767 Fax: (310) 412-8686 info@triformis.com

• Madera County

Foley Farms

Pat Foley Coarsegold, CA (559) 642-6264 foleys@sierratel.com

www.sierratel.com/foleys/

• Marin County

Avant Garden

Loretta Neumann Point Reyes Station, CA (415) 663-1975

The Natural Gardening Company

David Baldwin San Anselmo, CA (415) 456-5060 Fax: (707) 766-9747 info@naturalgardening.com

www.naturalgardening.com/shopping/

• Nevada County

Blue Belly Farm

Todd Spratt 20244 Poker Flat Road Penn Valley, CA (530) 432-8267 bbfworm@onemain.com

www.bluebellyfarm.com

• Orange County

Composters.com

Karl P. Warkomski Laguna Beach, CA (800) 233-8438, ext. 4 kpw1@greenculture.com

www.composters.com

• Placer County

Shallow Creek Ranch

Steve Smith

(530) 367-3174

P.O. Box 299Foresthill, CA 95631 scrworms@foothill.net

www.shallowcreekranch.com

• Riverside County

Biological Home Grown Farms

Tom Bennington

Riverside, CA

(909) 681-8256

biohome@pacbell.net

The Wright Worm Farm

Don and Bobbie Wright Nuevo, CA (909) 928-1485 wriwormf@gte.net

www.wrightwormfarm.com/

VanArsdale’s Worm Farm and Sales

Frank VanArsdale

San Jacinto, CA (909) 487-9269 wormguy@ivic.net

www.ivic.net/~wormguy

• San Bernardino County

Iannone Enterprises, International

Marcia Iannone Alta Loma, CA (909) 987-2979 Fax: (909) 941-9702 miannone@earthlink.net

www.wormpoop.com

Staggs Worm Farm

Larry Stagg Yermo, CA (760) 254-2307

• San Diego County

Sharon’s Worm World

Sharon McLachlan (760) 788-4423 sharonswrm@aol.com

Solana Recyclers

Encinitas, CA (760) 436-7986 Fax: (760) 436-7986 solana@adnc.com

www.digitalseed.com/solana

Vermicoast

Shelley Grossman Carlsbad, CA (760) 434-4223 vermicoast@aol.com

www.members.aol.com/vermicoast/

• San Francisco County

Yahoo Compost

Fernando Pastor San Francisco, CA (415) 460-WORM (9676) quesapastor@yahoo.com

• Tulare County

The Happy D Ranch Worm Farm

Al and Dorothy Benoy Visalia, CA (559) 738-9301 Fax: (559) 733-3250 Dorothy@happydranch.com

www.happydranch.com

A V e rmicomposting Guide for T eachers

Appendix G

••• Lessons From Closing the Loop

The overviews and lessons are from Closing the Loop: Exploring Integrated Waste Management and Resource Conservation (CTL), a curriculum offered by the California Integrated Waste Management Board’s Office of Integrated Environmental Education. Closing the Loopis a K–6 curriculum that addresses current waste management issues and encourages students to explore their natural environment through personal and community action projects. CTL is aligned with California’s content standards and frameworks. The K–3 module includes five lessons on vermicomposting, and the 4–6 module contains five lessons on composting.

The overviews highlight lessons covered in the vermicomposting and composting units. One sample lesson from each unit has been included as an introduction to the entire curriculum.

sition Experiment” on page 106.

Unit 3’s Concept

enhance soil.

The five lessons in this unit are:

Lesson 1: The Basics of Vermicomposting

Lesson’s concept: Food scraps can be recycled through vermicomposting.

In Lesson 1 students will:

• Brainstorm what they know and what they would like to know about worms.
• Set up a vermicomposting bin.
• Classify those items that can be fed to red worms and those that cannot be fed to red worms and write a poem about it.
• Design a chart with pictures of what to feed and what not to feed red worms.
• Record the weight and type of worm food and where it was placed in the worm composting bin.
• Select questions about red worms that they can research in books, on the computer, through videos, and through personal observations.

Lesson 2: Getting to Know Red Worms

Lesson’s concept: Red worms, like all other living things, “take in nutrients, give off wastes, grow, reproduce, and respond to stimuli from their environments.” (Science Framework, p. 116)

In Lesson 2 students will:

• List the ways to humanely observe and handle a red worm, and using the list, they will then write a song or sing a song that is already written.

K-3 Module, Unit 3: Vermicomposting

• Observe a red worm by using a magnifying lens and record their observations.
• Conduct humane experiments to determine whether red worms prefer light or dark.
• Practice measuring on gummy worms and then measure live red worms, chart these measurements, and develop a graph to compare the length of 20 red worms.
• Draw pictures or write stories about red worms.

Lesson 3: Cycles in Nature and Red Worm Development

Lesson’s concepts:

• All living things create waste. In natural systems, waste is broken down by chemical and physical means and can be used by other living things. (“Conceptual Matrix for Integrated Waste Management Education”)
• In the cycles that occur in nature, materials, such as nutrients, are recycled. Worms play an important role in recycling nutrients.
• In Lesson 3 students will:
• Examine the stages of decomposition of the items they buried at the beginning of this unit.
• Design a game to model the water cycle and identify a water cycle in the worm bin.
• Illustrate the stages of growth of a red worm.

101 Overview

• Determine the role red worms play in the nutrient cycle.
• Make a mural of cycles in a well-functioning vermicomposting bin.

Lesson 4: The Effects Worms Have on Soil

Lesson’s concepts:

• Red worms turn food waste into compost that can be used to improve soil.
• People and other living things depend on soil.
• In Lesson 4 students will:
• Observe, touch, and describe soil.
• Examine and describe worm castings and compare them to soil.
• Discuss the effect worms have on soil and how their actions may benefit other organisms.
• Sing a song about the importance of worms and soil to people.
• Design collages showing ways people use soil.

Lesson 5: Using Compost and Promoting Vermicomposting

Lesson’s concepts:

• Red worms turn food and paper waste into compost that can be used to enrich soil.
• People can participate in actions that enhance their environment.
• In Lesson 5 students will:
• Harvest the vermicompost from the worm bin.
• Conduct an experiment to test whether worm compost affects plant growth.
• Read or listen to Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney and Johnny Appleseed by Eva Moore and discuss the special things each character did to improve the environment.
• Make a red worm mascot, puppet, or clay model, and use these to share what they know about red worms and vermicomposting.
• Write poems, songs, and stories or design murals, illustrations, and posters to teach others about the importance of vermicomposting.

CLOSING THE LOOP

Required Books to Implement Unit 3

• For Lesson 1: Kalman, Bobbie, and Janine Schaub. Squirmy Wormy Composters. Primary
• Ecology series. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company, 1992.
• For Lesson 5: -Cooney, Barbara. Miss Rumphius. New York: Viking, 1982. -Moore, Eva. Johnny Appleseed. Illustrated

by Beatrice Darwin. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1970.

Projects

Projects provide hands-on experiences for students. Some lessons in this unit are project-based and encourage students to apply what they have learned in the classroom. Some project-based lessons are service-learning oriented, and in these lessons students participate in improving the environment in their school and community.

The following describe five projects that address this unit on vermicomposting. Examples are given of schools that participate in vermicomposting. Teachers are encouraged to select one of these projects with their students or to have their students develop one of their own. If students develop an applicable project, they and their teachers are encouraged to send a description of the project to the California Integrated Waste Management Board, Office of Integrated Education, MS-14A, 1001 I Street, P.O. Box 4025, Sacramento CA 95812-4025.

• Project 1: Students compile a class booklet, complete with illustrations, describing the first time they saw a red worm. The booklet could include the name of each student in the class, followed by a description written or dictated by the named student. For example, “The first time Charles saw a worm . . .” ; “the first time Marina touched a worm . . .” (Lesson 2).
• Project 2: Students plant flowers in planters on the school grounds (Lesson 4), plant shrubs and trees to beautify their school grounds (Lesson 5), or develop a school garden (Lesson 4).
• Project 3: Students put together information about red worms and vermicomposting in a script for a puppet show. Arrange for your

K-3 Module, Unit 3: 102 Vermicomposting

students to go to other classes to present their puppet show about red worms and vermicomposting. This show can also be presented during a school assembly and at the school’s open house (Lesson 5).

• Project 4: Students package the vermicompost and sell it to parents or other community members. Students could also include information in the packages about the benefits of vermicomposting or how to build and maintain a worm bin (Lesson 5).
• Project 5: Students organize and conduct an annual worm festival. They could develop stations for students from other classes to visit. A demonstration on how to vermicompost can also be included (Lesson 5).
• Other Projects

Lesson 1 of Unit 3 is project-based, focusing on vermicomposting as the class project.

Marguerite Hahn Elementary School, Cotati– Rohnert Park Unified School District¹

Sharon Janulaw’s kindergarten class at Marguerite Hahn Elementary School prepared a vermicomposting bin to be used to process food waste from students’ snacks. It is one foot deep by two feet wide by three feet long with a lid. Students take turns caring for the worms, making certain that the worm bin is not too hot or too dry. This bin will be displayed at open house, and the students will explain to their parents how to set up and care for the worm bin and show how food waste can be changed by the worms into a soil amendment.

The schools described below have classroom or school-wide vermicomposting bins and could be contacted for more information. The information on the schools from the San Francisco Unified School District was provided by Natasha Stillman, School Education Coordinator, Solid Waste Management Program, City and County of San Francisco. She oversees the San Francisco Recycling Program.

Bret Hart Elementary School, San Francisco Unified School District

Bret Hart Elementary School has a garden that is used by students to study science, social science, mathematics, and language arts. The garden was

¹Submitted by Sharon Janulaw, kindergarten teacher and field tester for Closing the Loop, Marguerite Hahn Elementary School, Cotati–Rohnert Park Unified School District.

K-3 Module, Unit 3: Vermicomposting

recently replanted, providing an opportunity for the integration of worm composting. The San Francisco Recycling Program provided outdoor worm bins and introductory classes both to teachers and to students. Currently, two bins are being used several times a week when the students collect food waste from the cafeteria.

Cesar Chavez Elementary School, San Francisco Unified School District

In 1996 a composting program at Cesar Chavez Elementary School was initiated by three teachers as an addition to the garden that was already in place. In 1997 an Americorps volunteer associated with the school took over the project. The school now has seven worm bins, five of which were cut down to accommodate the smaller children. An average of 5–10 pounds of compostable food is collected every week. The worm castings are used as fertilizer in the school’s garden.

Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School, San Francisco Unified School District

At Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School, two worm boxes are kept in a courtyard adjacent to the cafeteria. Two buckets for collection are kept in the teachers’ lounge, along with a scale for weighing the amount being composted and newspaper for the worm bins. Students from Kathy Harriman’s third-grade class take turns collecting the compostable food waste from the cafeteria and place it in the worm bins on a daily basis.

John Muir Elementary School, San Francisco Unified School District

Initiated by the school’s garden coordinator in 1996, with help from the San Francisco Recycling Program, John Muir Elementary School now has the beginnings of a worm composting program in the school’s garden, located a half-block away from the school. A fifteen-student “Worm Patrol” team collects food waste from one of the lunch periods. The food is then distributed between a worm bin and a basic bin. The worm castings and compost from the basic bin are used as fertilizer and soil amendment in the school’s garden. The garden is used each week by the garden coordinator for lessons on gardening and composting.

Lawton Elementary School, San Francisco Unified School District

The composting program at Lawton Elementary School includes two 4- by 4-foot vermicomposting bins and two basic composting bins. The program consists of teams of six students in grades three through eight that rotate over a two-week period to monitor the process, collect food, and place food in the worm bins. In the 1996–97 school year, an average of 49 pounds of material was composted every week. The

103 Overview

Lesson 4: The Effects Worms Have on Soil Lesson’s Concepts

• Red worms turn food waste into compost that can be used to improve soil.
• People and other living things depend on soil.

K-3 Module, Unit 3:

Lesson 4: The Effects Vermicomposting 143 Worms Have on Soil

Preparation

___ 1. Read the “Background Information for the Teacher” at the end of this lesson.

___ 2. Collect worm castings from the worm bin. (If the worm bin has been operating for a couple of weeks, you should have at least a cup of worm castings.) Another place to get worm castings is from a worm supplier (see list in Lesson 1).

___ 3. Write the words to “Soil Is Good” (page 147) on the chalkboard or piece of butcher paper.

Materials

For “Pre-Activity Questions”

___ 2 cups of garden soil

___ 2 pieces of sandstone or dirt clods

___ 1-quart transparent plastic container with lid and enough water to fill it half full

For “Part I, Examining Worm Castings”

___ A cup of worm castings from the worm bin (or from a worm supplier)

___ Magnifying lenses

For “Part II, Identifying Ways People Use Soil”

___ The transparency “Soil Is Good”

___ Assorted magazines for students to locate pictures showing ways people use soil

___ One sheet of construction or butcher paper for each group for the collages

___ Nontoxic glue

___ Scissors

For “Application”

___ A resealable plastic sandwich bag for each group

PRE-ACTIVITY QUESTIONS

A. Ask students to describe soil, as you write their responses on the chalkboard or on a piece of butcher paper.

B. The following activity can be done outdoors or indoors. If going outdoors, bring the two cups of garden soil. Ask students to stand or sit in a circle.

• Tell students that you will be giving some students handfuls of garden soil and that they should pass the soil to the persons on their left until all soil

CLOSING THE LOOP

samples have been passed all the way around the circle. If you are worried about students spilling the soil, place the soil in several small containers for them to pass around.

• Give several students handfuls of soil or containers of soil.
• As they are passing the soil around, ask students to feel the soil and to say words that describe this soil.
• After all students have passed around the soil, if it is not already in a container, gather the soil in a container.
• If outdoors, go back to the classroom and have students add to the list which describes soil. They should describe the soil they passed around.

Note: The reason that several handfuls of soil were passed around is that students might become more observant as they see several soil samples and hear other students describe them.

C. Ask students what is in soil. Dirt, pieces of plants, small rocks, water. Write down students’ responses under the heading “What Is in Soil?” on the chalkboard or a piece of butcher paper and save for later in the lesson. Discuss how students think soil is made. (Students might not know the answer at this time.)

• Tell students that they will simulate how water begins to make soil.
• Show two pieces of sandstone (or dirt clods). Place one in a plastic container of water and ask ten students to shake it ten times.
• Have students notice the particles of rock that are on the bottom of the container. Explain that particles of rock are in soil.
• Discuss some ways that rocks break down into smaller particles (e.g., wind, rain, sunlight, ice). Have students use the other piece of sandstone or dirt clod to demonstrate another way that rock breaks down into particles of soil.
• Can there be parts of plants and animals in soil? Yes. Ask students to explain. When parts of plants or animals fall to the ground, they become part of

K-3 Module, Unit 3: 144 Vermicomposting

soil. When plants and animals die, parts of them become soil.

PROCEDURE

Part I, Examining Worm Castings

A. This activity can be done outdoors or indoors. Ask students to stand or sit in a circle. Bring a cup of worm castings (but do not tell students what they are).

• Tell students that you will be giving them a mystery soil. They should keep passing the mystery soil to the person on their left until all students have had a chance to inspect it. If you are worried about students spilling the mystery soil, especially if they guess what it is, leave it in the container for them to feel as they pass it around.
• Give a student a handful or a container of mystery soil.