What Does Nature Recycle?

Each fairy in The Fairy Chronicles has an object in nature that represents her fairy spirit.  In order to protect these spirits, as well as the environment, recycling is an important habit to practice.  Perform this experiment to find out which materials will decompose, or recycle themselves, naturally and which will not.

What you need:

1. A clay flowerpot
2. A small stone
3. Enough soil to fill the flowerpot
4. Assorted litter, including foil, food scraps, leaves, paper, a plastic bag, and polystyrene foam
5. A pair of scissors
6. Some water
7. A glass pie plate
8. Four weeks to wait for results
9. Some newspapers
10. A stick about 12-18 inches long
11. A pair of rubber gloves (optional)

What you do:

1. With the stone, cover the hold in the bottom of the flowerpot so that water will not drain out too rapidly.
2. Put some soil in the pot until it is about one-third full.
3. Cut, crush, tear, or break the litter into quarter-sized bits and pieces.
4. Scatter the litter over the soil.
5. Cover the litter with soil until the pot is almost full.
6. Sprinkle the soil with water until it is thoroughly dampened but not completely soaked.
7. Cover the flowerpot with the glass pie plate.
8. Place the flowerpot in a warm, dark place.
9. Check the soil in the pot regularly and add water as needed to keep it moist.
10. After four weeks, empty the contents of the flowerpot onto open sheets of newspaper.
11. Put on the gloves if you intend to handle the soil, or use your stick to spread the soil so you can see what has happened to the litter.

Carefully observe the litter.  Which materials decomposed?  Which did not?  What does nature recycle?

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