An invasive plant depends on your location. What may be an invasive plant in Toronto may not be considered one in Vancouver due to differences in soil and climate. Invasive plants are typically not native to the area and they can threaten the natural habit of both plants and animals by out competing existing plants for space and resources. Invasive plants in Canada include barberry and buckthorn.
Cover Image by Calin Darabus, used under its Creative Commons license.
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Darci,You might like this idea (that is if you haven’t thought of it aleadry!). When I taught second grade we put soil in clear, plastic cups and grew the wheat grass seeds (purchased at Whole Foods in the clear dispensers) in the cups. All of the cups went on the windowsill except for one which we kept in the closet. So, the variable on that plant was light. Then, one plant did not get water either. Each day the kids journaled 1 or 2 senteces about what they observed and drew a picture of the roots and things as best as they could. We even had them try and measure the roots and/or plant growth in cm using a ruler. After about 2 weeks we took the plant out of the closet (the kids did not get to see it for two weeks and we only took it out after school to water make sure to keep all the cups watered ever few days). You should have seen their eyes! The spikey grass, if kept in the closet, is stark white. It’s a great conversation starter. Don’t tell them why it is white have them guess. Some of the kids catch on that there is no light but don’t quite understand the chlorophyll/plants get food from the sun connection. It’s a really fun sciene project to do with kids.