WESTMINSTER : They’re Getting All the Dirt on Science

Charity Jennings, 12, didn’t mind picking through a heap of moist compost and plucking out red worms with gloved hands.

After all, that was the fun part of sixth-grade science class on Wednesday. That is, it was until the smell percolated through the air.

“Ewww!” she groaned, echoing a sentiment common throughout the classroom.

Funky odors aside, Charity and her fellow students said they enjoyed the popular elective class called Garden-Based Science at Warner Middle School. Teacher Marina Vessey created the class to offer hands-on activities aimed at getting children excited about learning biology, botany, anatomy, zoology and even cooking.

For several weeks, students have been planting seeds in a garden outside the classroom, studying insects that live there, and collecting scraps of food to dump into compost bins where worms break it down into fertilizer. The elective course is not graded.

“Before the class, some kids didn’t know that squash grew on a vine,” Vessey said. “A lot of them live in apartments and only see squash in the supermarket.”

On Wednesday, students harvested worms from compost heaps and extracted their droppings for use as fertilizer in their garden.

“Remember, the stuff we want to save is the good soil the worms make for us,” Vessey reminded the group as they searched through the compost.

After helping find some of about 100 worms, Trang Dao, 11, said she enjoyed the class.

“It’s fun. The worms are slimy and they wriggle, but when you get to touch them you learn more,” she said.

She added, “It smells kind of bad, but you get used to it.”