Grass Facts for Kids

16 Grass Facts for Kids

Grass is a name used for a large group of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the Poaceae family.
Grass first appeared on our planet between 55 and 129 million years ago.
There are around 12,000 species of grasses in 780 genera in the Poaceae family.
The Poaceae family is the 5th largest plant family in the plant kingdom.
Grass grows on every continent and is considered one of the most distributed plant groups in the world. The grass species Antarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica) grows in Antarctica.
The size of the species in the grass family vary greatly.
The largest species in the grass family is Giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus giganteus).
Giant bamboo reaches an average height of 98 feet.
One of the smallest species in the grass family is early sandgrass (Mibora minima).
Early sandgrass only reaches a height between 0.07 and 0.59 inches.
Many staple foods are in the grass family. Including, but not limited to barley, rice and wheat.
Many building materials are made from species in the grass family, like bamboo and straw.
Thousands of species in the Poaceae family are used as ornamental or lawn grass.
Areas that are dominated by grass are known as grasslands.
Grasslands dominate between 20 and 40% of the land mass on our planet.
It’s estimated that grass family species make up around 26% of all the plant life on our planet.

A picture of grass in front of a house.

A close-up picture of grass blades.

A picture of grass dying because of pests.

Grasses (Poaceae) – Find a lot of good information about grass on the Wikipedia website.
Types of Grass – Discover the different types of grass on the Scotts website.
10 Cool Grass Facts – Read ten cool facts about grass that will surprise you on the Pennington Seed website.
Grass – Britannica – Learn more about grass on the Britannica website.