Bugs, slugs, bacteria, and fungi are decomposers at the heart of every ecosystem. Fifth graders at Dodge Intermediate School in Twinsburg, Ohio, ventured outdoors to learn about the necessity of these amazing organisms. With the help of a naturalist, students explored their local park and discovered the wonder of decomposers and their interconnectedness to other living things. Later lessons challenged students to creatively imagine and write about an ecosystem without decomposers, unveiling their essential roles within the natural world. Due to the nature of the decomposition process, the lessons described herein take approximately three weeks to complete and can be adapted to a variety of elementary settings such as classrooms, home school, and outdoor education. The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013) identifies fifth grade as an endpoint for basic understanding of ecosystems. For this reason, these lessons aim to help students understand the integral, cyclical, and restorative relationship of decomposers within their own local environment (p. 48).