Example for Grade 7: Explanatory – Invasive Species - ID: 4958

Have you ever wondered where some of your food comes from? Some of it is grown in the United States and some of it may have been brought in by other countries, either intentionally or accidentally. Even some of the very common foods we eat today, like apple for instance, were imported. Food or not, some non-native plants can benefit a civilization or environment, while others have become pointless or damaging to a city or environment. In thos essay, I will discuss non-native plants that are good, non-native plants that are disastrous, an an example, the tomato. There are some good non-native plants that I will tell you about next.

Believe it or not, there are some beneficial non-native plants. They can be managed easily and are not as aggressive growers. An example is they maple tree, not native to the United States. People love to put it in their front yards for decoration and it doesn’t cause any harm to the surrounding trees, plants, or animals. Around the world, there have been many non-native plants that have become staples in those countries. For example, apples and wheat have become staples in the United States. They were originally non-native. Ecosystems need diversity in order to thrive, and non-native plants fit that role perfectly. Although some non-native plants are good, others can be problematic.

Non-native plants aren’t always good. These bad ones are called invasive plants. They are not useful for humans are potentially dangerous for the surrounding environment. It is very fast growing. Insects and animals don’t eat the plant because they do not know what it is, so they just leave it alone. Without insects and animals to eat it, it grows unmonitored causes problems. Some invasive arrived when colonists came to the New World, such as Christopher Columbus. This happened when ships cam ashore to empty their ballast tanks, containing soil with European seeds in it. When it was poured into the Earth, the seeds started to grow. Some may even be thriving today in our soil. There is an example of a world traveling plant: the tomato.

The tomato has been in many places around the world. Nobody is really sure where tomatoes first grew, but historians believe it grew in the Andes Mountains, either in modern day Peru or Chile. It moved to Mexico and the Aztecs discovered it. Then the Spanish explorers came in the sixteenth century, and discovered the Aztecs had been cultivating the tomato for a very long time. Spain took the tomatoes and they soon spread around Europe. Then they went to Italy, where it was referred to as the golden apple. No one really wanted to eat tomatoes because they thought that they were poisonous. In the mid 1800’s, people finally started eating tomatoes. Now, people around the world are eating them constantly.

Non-native plants have been good and bad over the years, Some, like the apple and tomato have flourished, while others have been a nuisance. Invasive plants are being removed from many environmenst because of their invasive qualities. In this essay I discussed: non-native plants that are good, non-native plants that are bad, and a world traveler: the tomato.