Subject Matter

• "Decomposers" are organisms that cause things to decay by eating (or digesting) organic matter.
• Some decomposers, such as earthworms, are more obvious than others, such as microbes.
• Some decomposers are microbes—tiny organisms that are typically too small to see with just your eyes.
• Microbes do most of work of decomposition.

Causality

• There are obvious and non-obvious causes for decay.
• When causes are not obvious, it can make it harder to see causal patterns, such as the cyclic causal pattern involved in decay.