Long term time lapse photos

[m.mcguire]

Hello all. I don't know if they is quite the right forum for this question but seems like my best bet. I am a middle school technology education teacher and we have recently started a hydroponics lab to grow vegetables. We would like to set up a camera to take several photos a day for several weeks to show the growth of the plants. I was told there are "some" funds available to get equipment, though I am not sure how much "some" is. So my question is what are my options for setting something up like this? Would it be best to just use a webcam hooked up to the computer with some program that will take a snap shot every so often, get a dslr with built in intervalometer, cheaper camera with an external interval timer?

Since I am not sure yet what budget I am working with yet what are some of my options from top of the line shoot for the stars cost to scrounging for pennies options?
I would like to use this opportunity as an excuse to get a decent DSLR that I will then have for other projects in the future. What would my best for my money option be for a DSLR (has to be new)?
There has also been talk of trying to set up a live feed through webcam to constantly be able to monitor the plant growth. Is there any software for video that can take snapshots as it records video simultaneously?

Thanks for any help
-Matt

 

[runnah]

I have 6 of these. Indoor, outdoor pretty cheap http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005LGTK7M

 

[m.mcguire]

Looks like a good option.

Thanks