Dead Leaf Lab: Where Does the Dead Leaf Go? (5-LS2-1)

The class seals one dead leaf in a jar with damp soil. A second leaf goes into a jar on clean paper. Across four weeks the soil leaf darkens, spots with mold, and comes apart at the edges. The paper leaf stays whole. The class works on one question across the lab: Where does the dead leaf go?

The lab is aligned to the NGSS performance expectations 5-LS2-1 and 5-ESS2-1 and runs as nonlinear inquiry-based learning. Students form a first idea, test it, and revise their claim as the evidence comes in. Sessions and activities flex by the state of understanding in the room, and the teacher guide shows how to adjust the order and the timing.

Each student keeps the record at the check-ins, builds a model of where the leaf matter is going, and revises the model twice. Students study evidence cards in four sets and read a short text, Four Spheres in One Jar. In Session 4 the class writes a recommendation to the school groundskeeper about the autumn leaves on the garden beds. Session 5 is a solo transfer case.

The lab runs in five sessions of 30 to 40 minutes, with eight check-ins of about five minutes, across about four weeks. The teacher guide carries a check-in guide, a calendar, and a compression plan.

What is inside:

Teacher guide, pages 3 to 14: Start Here (page 3), Lab at a Glance (page 5), What Is in This Set and Planning Notes (page 6), materials (page 7), session guides (pages 8 to 12), The Check-In Guide, the Calendar, and the Compression Plan (page 13), Findings Key and Evidence Pack Index (page 14)

Pages 15 to 18: Evidence Cards 1 to 12 in four sets (The Workers; Layers, Rot, and Mold; A Year of Leaves, Sizes, Tenants; Half Gone, Soil, New Growth)

Page 19: Words for This Lab

Page 20: Reading, Four Spheres in One Jar

Page 21: See-Think-Wonder Sheet

Pages 22 to 32: Student Journal A

Pages 33 to 43: Student Journal B

Page 44: Our Class Claim, A Letter to the Groundskeeper

Page 45: Reference Plate, Where Dead Things Go

Pages 46 to 47: Transfer Task Form A, The Log by the Fence

Pages 48 to 49: Transfer Task Form B, The Garden Compost Bin

Page 50: Scoring Rubric

Page 51: Scored Examples

Page 52: Sources and Design Notes

Page 53: The Standard, Revisited

Page 54: More from Syzygy Science

The lab addresses 5-LS2-1 (Matter Moves Through an Ecosystem) and 5-ESS2-1 (the jar as one working example of the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere interacting in a single system). The lead practice is Developing and Using Models. Two supporting practices run through the lab: students plan the test jar investigation at the setup, and students analyze data at the check-ins. The Start Here pages print the expectation in full at the front of the book, and the closing spread carries the expectation codes with the scoring lines.