Lesson 10 of 10 · Plants

Experiment⭐ 30 XP🌿 Wild Jungle

What Happens When Something Dies

🧪Lab Brief #10

What Happens When Something Dies.

🎯 Your mission

Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.

⚡ The twist

What the body does in one minute is wilder than any cartoon.

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Mind = Blown

🦠 You have more bacterial cells in your body than human cells.

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Make a hypothesis first

Guess: how does the body solve this problem?

What You'll Learn

Fungi, worms and tiny bacteria break down dead leaves and animals. This returns the goodness to the soil so new plants can grow. Without them, dead material would just pile up.

Key Words

Tap a word to see its definition.

Materials Needed

two jars
soil
dead leaves
water

Safety First

Wash your hands thoroughly after touching soil.
Keep the jars closed and do not smell the contents.

Steps

Step 1 — Read

Read the explanation above and note the two key terms before you start.

Step 2 — Do

Put a dead leaf in a jar with damp soil and one in a dry sealed jar. Look at both once a week for a month and draw what you see each time.

Step 3 — Observe

Record what actually happened, including anything that did not match what you expected.

Step 4 — Record

Write a conclusion that answers the question this lesson opened with, and state your uncertainty.

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 2

Which of these is a decomposer?

How sure are you going to be?😐 maybe

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Where you see this in real life

This is why plants grow toward windows and why scabs form.

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Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Watch a plant or pet for 5 minutes today and write down what you noticed.

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For the dinner table

“Tell me something you noticed about your own body today.”

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