compost project

Ask questions about projects relating to: biology, biochemistry, genomics, microbiology, molecular biology, pharmacology/toxicology, zoology, human behavior, archeology, anthropology, political science, sociology, geology, environmental science, oceanography, seismology, weather, or atmosphere.

Moderators: AmyCowen, kgudger, MadelineB, Moderators

Locked
haster01
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 6:24 pm
Occupation: Student

compost project

Post by haster01 »

Hi, i am making an inside compost bin. I was wondering what some of the variables would be for this project. Thank you! :D
JMP
Former Expert
Posts: 186
Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2013 12:56 pm
Occupation: Postdoctoral Fellow
Project Question: Signing up to be an Expert
Project Due Date: n/a
Project Status: Not applicable

Re: compost project

Post by JMP »

Hi haster,

It's difficult for us to help you determine what the variables of your project are without a little more information. Can you give us some more details for your project? Just making an inside compost bin is very interesting, but it's not really testing a hypothesis or answering a question the way you have it framed now. Do you want to test multiple types of composting to see which breaks things down faster or do you want to test whether certain types of food products (eggshells, coffee grinds, vegetable peels, etc) break down faster than others? Basically, we need to know more about what you are interested in in order to help you with this.

Please post more information and we'll be happy to help as much as possible!
JMP
haster01
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 6:24 pm
Occupation: Student

Re: compost project

Post by haster01 »

um well actually I am testing how fast compostable items break down in green and brown compost. It was moved to outside by the way, and I wasn't sure the variables for that. I was thinking the product that the item is made of, thickness of the item, and weight of the item. Thank you.
SciB
Expert
Posts: 2066
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 7:00 am
Occupation: Retired molecular biologist, university researcher and teacher
Project Question: I wish to join Scibuddies to be able to help students achieve the best science project possible and to understand the science behind it.
Project Due Date: n/a
Project Status: Not applicable

Re: compost project

Post by SciB »

Hi,

Composting is really an interesting process but it is more complicated than most people think. The bacteria that break down biomass require certain conditions of temperature, moisture and form of the compostable material. For example, the finer you chop up the vegie scraps or plant waste--whatever you are trying to compost--the faster it will work.

What do you mean by 'green' and 'brown' composting?

What 'items' were you planning on composting?

Are you going to use a compost starter? This is something you could test--time to compost with and without starter.

What are you composting in and what is the temperature outside where you have the bins? The colder the temperature, the slower the rate of composting. Do you have a digital thermometer that you can use to measure the temperature inside the pile? This is one of the best indicators of microbial activity.

There is a ton of information about composting on the web. Have you been reading about how it is done? If you need some suggestions, I could try to find some good sites. I have been composting kitchen scraps for many years and have a lot of personal experience.

Let us know the answers to the questions and we can make some suggestions on how to best do your project.

Sybee
Locked

Return to “Grades 9-12: Life, Earth, and Social Sciences”