2nd Grade Purple Loosestrife Eradication
During their second-grade year, students research the
effectiveness of several methods to eradicate purple loosestrife in an
on-campus cattail marsh. Students cut off and dispose of seed heads of purple
loosestrife plants in one site. In a second site, they pull new loosestrife
plants. Students count cattail and loosestrife plants in each site and record
observations of animal life in the cattail marsh. Students record data into lab
notebooks, subsequently storing data on computer templates designed especially
for this project. Students then analyze their data. Lab books, journals, and
computer files are kept from year to year for comparison.
While participating in the research project on
loosestrife, students grow loosestrife plants to learn the cycle of plants from
seed to seed. They study the environmental significance of purple loosestrife
and its effect on cattail swamps, and they investigate and write about the life
that cattail swamps support.
Students also raise loosestrife-eating beetles[1] from larvae. Students screen the beetles into
loosestrife, monitor loosestrife growth, and record results on a computer
template. They also experiment with soil and shade conditions which affect
loosestrife.
In the spring, students return to study sites in the
marsh to count cattail and loosestrife plants in each site and record
observations of animal life attracted to the cattail swamp. Students determine
if picking off seed heads of loosestrife plants had any effect on growth and
wildlife. They also visit loosestrife infested and invasion-free wetlands
around the Twin Cities to see how presence or absence of loosestrife affects
wildlife and plants.
Rationale
In designing this project, two problems associated
with elementary science education were addressed. First, children are born
scientists but somehow they lose what comes naturally. Second, teachers feel
less prepared to teach science than other subjects. As a result, much science
curriculum involves activities from kits, which are teacher-directed. These
experiments and activities have known results and are not designed to address
real, significant problems.
This project seeks to remedy these problems. Second
and third-grade students are fascinated with marsh areas and the animal life
and plants that support that life. Funding for this project will make the
wetlands of our campus accessible to students to do open-ended research on a
significant Minnesota problem. Because the project will be fully integrated
into the core program, students will fully appreciate the relevance of science
in their lives and become very enthusiastic about science.