Osnovna škola Bartola KašićaVinkovciErasmus + projektYoung citizens of Europe – our future

September 2015

COMMON RAGWEED ERADICATION

Common ragweed ( Ambrosia atremisiifolia) is a plant that is native to North America. It was brought to Europe in the 19th and 20th century by ships. It has become invasive species in some European countries. Eastern Croatia has been badly affected since the World War 2.

Ragweed grows in fields, gardens, roadsides and waste places. It is an annual plant. Each plant produces seeds that are carried by wind. Seeds can survive in the soil for more than 30 years. Common ragweed spreads westwards between 6 and 20 kilometres every year, depending on weather conditions.

Each plant can produce a billion grains of pollen every year. Ragweed pollen is the greatest allergen of all pollens and major cause of hay fever. Symptoms of allergy are eye irritation, runny nose, sneezing, inflamed nose and throat andin some cases asthma attacks and headaches. The worst time of the year is the late summer. Every year more and more people develop ragweed allergy , which is a big public health problem , and it is very important to eradicate it.

We decided to do something about it. First we visited the Department of Public Health. Dr. Kata Krešić, Head of the Department informed us about allergies and ways of eradicating common ragweed.She gave us leaflets and posters to distribute in our local community.

Students put up posters on shopwindows, bus stops, etc.

Leaflets were thrown into letter -boxes or handed out to people in the street.

There are three ways of eradication of ragweed:- chemical spraying: it is not suitable for urban areas, because ragweed reacts only to some of the more aggressive herbicides- mowing: it must be repeated every three weeks because ragweed grows back rapidly- manual uprooting: it should be done before flowering

We decided to uproot ragweed on two locations where there are lots of children – near the school and near the city recreational area. Students and teachers worked together.

Location 1

Location 2

We also have a project song. It is “Pjesma zadrugara” from a famous Croatian childrens’ film “Vlak u snijegu”. Lyrics “Kad se male ruke slože, sve se može” are often used by almost everyone in Croatia.The meaning is that nothing is impossible if we work as a team.The song was performed by the school choir and orchestra, conducted by music teacher Ružica Lacković.