How to Plant a Litter Garden

When I was in the fourth grade, my teacher, Mr. Canterbury, taught us how to plant a "litter garden." Does that sound 70s or what? The litter garden is basically an ecology lesson that also entertains kids because it's messy and unconventional.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Medium sized container
• Dirt
• Various items of "litter"
• Water

1. Find a medium sized container. Something about the size of a window sill planter will do.
2. Fill the container about halfway up with dirt.
3. "Plant" some litter. Plant foods, paper, metal, plastics, fabrics and anything else that might be litter. Use your imagination. Write a list of everything that's planted.
4. Water your litter garden about once a week. Keep the soil moist but not flooded, more or less how you'd water plants.
5. At the end of several months to a year, dig up your litter garden and note any changes in the litter. See which items decomposed and which didn't. Your observations can be incorporated into lessons on ecology, environment and biodegradability. See the link under "Resources" for a more complex, lesson-plan oriented version of litter gardens.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure that the litter is buried well under the soil to maximize the project's accuracy and to minimize the possible stench.
• You might want to avoid burying sharp objects in case your children will delve in like mad when they're finally allowed to dig up the garden.