Recycling in the Soil: teacher key

Bugs That Clean Up, grade 4 edition, written for 4th grade. Decomposers recycle nutrients from dead plants back into the soil. See how a compost pile heats up, how termites digest wood and why buried dung helps the soil.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What do decomposers do with nutrients from dead plants?
   • Lose them
   • Recycle them into the soil (answer)
   • Burn them
2. Which living things work first in a compost pile?
   • Earthworms
   • Millipedes
   • Bacteria (answer)
3. What helps a termite turn wood into food for the colony?
   • Protists in its gut (answer)
   • Sunlight
   • Water from rain
4. Where would you most likely find springtails?
   • On a dry, hot sidewalk
   • In bright sunlight
   • In a pile of damp leaves (answer)
5. What can happen to nitrogen when dung is left on top of the ground?
   • It is buried
   • It can be lost or run off (answer)
   • It turns into wood

Words

• decomposers: leftover breakers
• bacteria: tiny living things
• protists: one-celled life
• nutrients: plant food
• casts: worm droppings