Honors Environmental Science
Unit 3 - Waste
Experimental Design – Landfill
Objective:
 You and your partner will design and conduct an experiment using a model of a landfill.
 You must determine an independent and dependant variable and a testable problem statement.
 Make sure to decide what variables you will keep controlled; also anticipate any uncontrolled
variables.
 You will write a traditional Lab Experiment Report.
Instructions to Construct a Landfill:
1. Line a shoebox with black garbage bag. Be sure to thoroughly tape down the bag so that it is
sealed in.
2. Fill the lined shoebox with soil.
3. Bury your “garbage” item(s) about halfway down into the soil.
4. Water the soil until damp (not too wet!). Close up the box with the bag and the box top.
5. Place the landfill in a warm place. Keep it damp for about 10-14 days.
Helpful Tips to consider when designing your experiment:
Natural products: will decompose
Synthetic products: will not decompose
Factors that affect decomposition:
• amount of water
• depth item was buried
• sun – amount of light
• amount of heat energy
• bacteria in the soil
• size – thickness of item/mass
• Can you predict which items will decompose the fastest?
• Can you predict which factors will have the greatest effects on decomposition?
Honors Environmental Science
Unit 3 - Waste
Conclusion Paragraph 1:
Restate your hypothesis. Was it correct or incorrect? Use specific examples from your data to
support this. Describe at least TWO errors that may have impacted the accuracy of your data.
Conclusion Paragraph 2 Questions:
1) How is your model similar to a landfill? How is it different?
2) Explain how the process of decomposition differs between compost and real landfill.
3) How would you design a compost that you could use at home or school? What items would
work best in the compost? What items would be the worst?