Each week, students track the progress of twelve items. However, when you show them the week after that certain items are still there, then 'biodegradable' becomes a lot smaller. To begin the project, students chose an egg carton and twelve pieces of garbage. One piece of trash is placed in each section of the egg carton. Dirt is then placed over the pieces.
Water is added to simulate the effects of rain.
The carton is then placed in a sunny area. Each week the students dig into the dirt and check the compartments to see what happened to the items. Students visit local streams where they seine for and identify organisms. The young environmentalists bring back water samples to the school's science lab for chemical testing. Ph, chlorine, chromium, copper, cyanide, iron, nitrate, nitrogen, phosphorous, silica, and sulfide are conducted by the students.