Decomposition Lab

Task

After watching a time-lapse video of a large bowl of fruit decomposing, grade 4 students in Deirdre Bailey and Amy Park’s classes were challenged to design an authentic science experiment that would identify variables that have the greatest impact on the rate of decomposition.  Mirroring the work of a lab scientists, students conducted their experiments, recorded quantitative and qualitative data, and digitally documented their findings in order to share with a broader audience.