In Menominee tribal culture, Moose Clan members are protectors of the Earth. Maria Moose is thrilled to join her class in studying biomass energy. The class creates a compost garden for the school competition and goes on a field trip to see biomass energy in action. The class project turns out to be harder than Maria imagined and she has to decide what's more important-her desire to prove her independence or her class's composting project.