Goals:
Frankie Long (ESOL teacher) and Julie Corey (science teacher) initiated a vermi-composting project at Sutton Middle School in which students learned about worm biology and prepared bins for red wiggler worms and maintained the bins in the classroom by feeding the worms vegetable, fruit, and paper scraps.  The ultimate goal is to harvest their castings (fresh compost) to make “compost tea” to sell as a PTA fundraiser and to help with the native plant installations on their school grounds.

Location:
Sutton Middle School, Atlanta Public Schools
4360 Powers Ferry Road, Atlanta, GA 30327

Getting Started:
Eli Dickerson, UrbanWatch educator with Fernbank Museum of Natural History, provided guidance and instructions on how to prepare the bins and take of the worms.

Materials:
Plastic bin (Rubbermaid works well), worms, shredded paper, plant or food waste

Project Cost:
FREE with UrbanWatch participation
-minimal otherwise: $8 plastic bin, $25 worth of red wiggler worms

Outcomes:
After 5 months of vermi-composting the worm bin has easily produced a gallon or more of castings and the worms are happy to continue eating!

If another teacher were going to duplicate this project how would they begin?
Contact someone who has experience with worm composting, such as Fernbank Museum of Natural History (urbanwatch@fernbankmuseum.org) or via one of many worm retailers online or by reading the book “Worms eat my garbage” by Mary Appelhof.

Your contact information:
UrbanWatch Atlanta
Fernbank Museum of Natural History
767 Clifton Rd. NE
Atlanta, GA 30307
(404) 929-6396
urbanwatch@fernbankmuseum.org

Sutton Middle School
www.suttonmiddleschool.org