The war on weeds

Use this article to find out how students at Kaniere School are helping scientists combat the spread of weeds. They’re using simple digital technology to identify the weeds and upload the information to a national database, iNaturalist. The article shows how students can use digital technology to become citizen scientists and act locally on a national issue.

The project demonstrates how classifying involves both careful observation and comparison and the importance of data collection to both identify and monitor issues.

The article offers suggestions on how other schools can join the war on weeds. This supports the science capability ‘Engage with science’.

Check your school library for the article from the 2018 level 2 Connected journal ‘Step By Step’ download it as a Google slide presentation from Tāhūrangi or order it from the Ministry of Education.

The teacher support material (TSM) can be downloaded from Tāhūrangi (Word and PDF files available). It includes the learning activities – Plant classifications, Join the fight! and Why the fuss? – along with related resource links.