Win a Prize with our Web Scavenger Hunt!Florida Invasive Plant Education Initiative & Curriculum

Welcome to the Invasive Plant Education Website Scavenger Hunt.

Explore our website and win a fabulous prize!

To successfully complete all of the questions of this scavenger hunt, you will be navigating through three companion websites:

our Invasive Plant Education Website for teachers,
the “main” website for the Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants (CAIP), and
the Guide to Plant Management in Florida Waters.

Instructions

You will be directed to the sections of the site that contain the answers but you must search them out from there, using the hints or clues provided. For easy navigation, be sure to keep the online scavenger hunt form open as a separate window in your browser. Type your answers in the spaces provided. Once you have completed the Scavenger Hunt and filled out the contact information, simply click on the submit button and we will send you a valuable prize.
Good Luck! On with the hunt!

START HERE: http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/education

1) The four main objectives (i.e., "goals") of this initiative are:

2) Find the curriculum guide in the menu bar to the right. (HINT: The answer to the next question can be found close to home…as close as your own backyard.)

While learning about Florida's unique plants, students will also learn the difference between , , and plants along the way.

3) Lesson 1 / Part 2 (of the curricula guide), students will be taking a closer look at plants and learning a “key” way of classifying aquatic plants into four categories: , , , AND

4) You've probably already clicked on this FREE Resources page (knowing how much teachers love free stuff): http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/education/teachresfree.html. But just in case you haven’t, we thought we’d introduce you to a few of the highlights: The “Assorted Images” link takes you to our “main” CAIP website home page, where you can find “Plant Information and Images” for plant species found in Florida and the southeastern United States: (http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/488)

(HINT: see the left-hand navigation bar for this.)

Notice that you can search for images in this section using at least 4 different "categories." Plants by: , , , and

5) Using the list of plants by “common name,” you can find out something about hydrilla's leaf margins, which are: . This is one way to tell the plant apart from other similar looking submersed plants (like egeria).

(Hint: Look for the "H" page. Find "hydrilla.")

6) While you’re still browsing the “Plant Information and Images,” check out the Plant Line Drawings.Pick one native and one non-native line drawing that you think would make a good addition to a coloring book.

7) Back to Free Resources (http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/education/teachresfree.html): Using the glossary of plant terminology, click on the term "achene." Choose the best answer below.
a persistent pain
a skin condition associated with adolescence
a sunflower seed
a deep tap root

8) Two other types of glossaries can be found on the FREE Resources webpage (HINT: You’ll find them at the top of the list). They will help your students learn more about plant "anatomy." See A Glossary of and .

9) The next answer can be found by looking in the right-hand navigation bar, where you can easily get to a "flashy" plant identification activity. Your students will have lots of fun learning to recognize 80 of Florida’s worst invasive plant species, using these handy flash cards. Notice, they are quick and easy to download and print and they are listed three different ways: , , and .

10) Now, let’s take a look at the PowerPoint™ Lessons link (HINT: found in navigation bar at right). What is the answer to question 2 in “A Fish Tale Power Point Questions and Answers”?

11) On the same PowerPoint™ lessons page, find the Teacher Guide for the "Silent Invaders" How many plant species are native to Florida? (HINT: To find this answer you may have to get a little BACKGROUND information.)

12) Moving on to new territory: Find the “Plant Management in Florida Waters” link at the top of the page (to the right of the Egret): http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/guide/

Using “Contents by Keyword,” find the URL (web address) for the web page that will tell you what we can do about Florida’s Non-native plants. (HINT: Good STEWARDSHIP is the way to go when it comes to managing non-native plants.)

13) Now that you’ve gotten a glimpse of our websites and resources, we’ll finish with a quick geography lesson. Check out the “Find plants in Your Region ” link in the menu bar on the right (This is back on the main Education web page: http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/education/). In the box provided, tell us which region are you located in and the name of a native and invasive plant species from your area.

Region: Native Plant: Invasive Plant:

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