Florida Educators Investigate Invasive Plant Species With Advanced Technology During Sustainability Webinar

Mexican Petunias

Tampa, Fla. – Florida educators from all over the state continue to attend sustainability workshops despite a current global pandemic. On 6/17, teachers came together to learn about invasive plant species while learning to use some of the latest technology for distance learning.

Sustainability Superheroes is a project created by the USF Stavros Center with the Coca Cola Foundation to provide training to K-12 educators on incorporating global, sustainable issues in their classrooms. The invasive species webinar was a huge success! Teachers of all subjects learned about Florida’s invasive plant species and how they are damaging the environment, while costing the state millions in recovery efforts.

Air Potato plant. Photo source: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/

Florida spends $17 million a year trying to control invasive plants! Common invasive plants species include the air potato, which has absolutely no use, and mexican petunias (pictured above). These bright purple flowers are popular in plant nurseries and major retailers, however, they are a category 1 invasive species! They are altering native plant communities and damaging ecological functions.

During the webinar, teachers investigated the state’s most wanted plant species, while receiving Nearpod training and valuable resources to use with their students. This platform makes distance learning a breeze. Teachers learned how to use features like the collaborate board, which enables students to type in their own ideas and use pictures on a digital bulletin board. Nearpod also offers voting polls, multiple choice questions, drawing boards, virtual field trips, and much more. Teachers have complete control of managing students’ answers and creating a multitude of activities!

Photo source: https://nearpod.com/blog/presentation-conferences/

​
Part of sustainable education is not only encouraging students to help the planet, but also make smart decisions. The lesson plans and activities in this invasive plant species workshop incorporated decision-making and social-emotional learning to guide students in working well with others and solve environmental problems. ​​

Get the full presentation on invasive plant species here. It has the Nearpod lesson for you to use with your students and plenty of other resources! Sign up for new webinars on the USF Stavros Website! 

To stay updated with workshops, activities, events, and sustainability news, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter all @usfstavros.