Cycling of Biomass and
Composting
YOU WILL DEMONSTRATE AND EXPLAIN THE
CYCLING OF MATTER WITHIN LIVING
SYSTEMS SUCH AS IN THE DECAY OF
BIOMASS IN A COMPOST BIN
5B
What is Biomass?
Card Sort Activity:
With your partner, sort your cards into
two categories:
Examples and Non-examples of Biomass
What is Biomass?
 Biomass
is organic material made from plants and animals.
(Organic means it contains the element carbon and is made from
plant or animal products)
 contains stored energy from the sun.
 Plants absorb the sun's radiant energy
in a process called photosynthesis.
Review Time 
Write the equation for photosynthesis
in your notes.
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The chemical energy in plants gets passed on to animals and people
that eat them.
Biomass
•
Renewable Energy Source
WHY?
We can always grow more and
when organisms die, they decay
and release energy
The Cycle
Activity:
Read the short article on
Bioenergy with your partner.
•Draw a sketch of the
Bioenergy Cycle as you read.
•Make sure to include our
ultimate source of energy.
•Try to show how recycling
plays a role in process.
How do we contribute to the cycle?
Classic Trash Activity
 What do these items all have in common?
 Classify each item in the box. Decide what criteria
you will use to classify each item.
 Class discussion:
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What are your categories?
Define the categories.
How long will it take for your items to decompose?
What are some problems with landfills?
How can these problems be avoided?
Cross section of a Landfill
What percent of
waste put in landfills
or is burned is
considered biomass?
Food 18%
Paper Products 22%
Wood 8%
Yard Trimmings 7%
Textiles 6%
61%
Composting
 In 1960 the average American threw away 2.7
pounds of trash a day.
 Today each person throws away about 4.5 pounds a
day. (That comes to about 2000 lbs or 1 ton of
trash/year!)
 Composting can reduce our waste to landfills.
 Composting is a way to recycle organic solid waste.
 Composting Video Clip
Lab: Compost Bin in a Bottle
Composting Hints
 Meat and dairy products are high in fat and will
cause an unpleasant odor if added to a poorlymanaged compost pile. Running them through a
blender will speed up their decomposition.
 Worms can reduce composting time by 50%.
Here are some experiments that you can do with
your column:
 Weigh the column daily and graph the change in weight as the
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compost develops.
Monitor and graph the amount of water used by the column
daily. Do this by subtracting the volume of water collected at
the bottom from the volume of water you've added to the top.
Measure the temperature of the column with a soil
thermometer daily and graph it.
Take notes about the appearance of the trash in the column
daily. How long does it take to decompose?
Collect the drainage water and look at it under a microscope
to see the microscopic organisms that live in the compost.
 Composting Game
 Informational Site:
 http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=biomass_home-basics-k.cfm
 http://home.howstuffworks.com/composting.htm/printable
 http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/DWPreview.aspx?WID=89&obj=54282&mode=1