Description:Are you looking for a new way to teach about respiration, nutrient cycling, energy flow, producers, consumers, and decomposers? Decay and Renewal provides techniques for students to learn the basics while investigating the science behind biodegradation in nature and in human-engineered systems for wastewater treatment, waste disposal, and bioremediation of oil spills and other contaminated sites. The Teacher Edition explains how to guide student research and engineering design projects. Classroom-ready materials include detailed background information, sample assessment tasks, and rubrics, and guidelines for integrating peer review into classroom science. The Teacher Edition contains the complete text of the Student Edition. The Student Edition includes: An overview of basic principles of biodegradation and how they apply in composting, landfills, wastewater treatment, and bioremediation systems. Protocols that provide instructions for conducting experiments on biological, chemical, and physical aspects of biodegradation. Forms to guide students through each step of research, providing structure but flexibility in designing and conducting meaningful experiments. Step-by-Step guidelines for an engineering design challenge related to treatment of simulated wastewater. Decay and Renewal is the third volume in the four-part Cornell Scientific Inquiry Series, designed to guide students in creating and conducting experiments, presenting their results, and exchanging feedback with their peers.