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Described below by one of the leaders, Jonathon Schramm.
"The event was run as part of Camp Power Girls, which is a day camp for girls ages 10-14 run by Who Is My Neighbor, Inc., a local organization. Each day the girls took part in some special activity, often learning a craft or skill, or hearing from local professionals on various topics. On August 7th, I walked with the girls (approx. 15) from the Reformed Church (where the camp is held) down to the native plant garden.
"I then divided them up into groups of three and gave them a bundle of four invasive plant samples, namely Japanese knotweed, Japanese honeysuckle, Tree-of-Heaven, and cow vetch. They then ran around trying to be the first group to find matching leaf samples of each type, all of the species being easily found on the edges of the mowed area. After the groups had brought their finds back, we talked about the differences between native and invasive species in general, and then plants in particular, as they had seen personally how relatively easy it was to find the invasives."
"We finished our time out there by playing a modified game of "tag," where the group initially consisted of three teams: producers, consumers, and decomposers, modeled after the three basic groups in a food web. Each team had to avoid one of the other teams (they could be "eaten" by them, and thus changed into a member of that team) and chase the remaining team, who they could eat and convert them into that category. This game continued for a while with each group persisting, until two girls entered the game who had been held out as invasive species. They were allowed to tag any other group and convert them into invasives as well, which predictably brought the game to a rapid halt as all of the players became invasives. Although it exaggerated the point, it was an easy visual lesson at the way in which invasives change the workings of local ecosystems. All in all, the girls had a lot of fun, and hopefully are a little more aware of the vulnerability of their native New Jersey landscapes!"
Photos: Arnold Henderson
