Last week, we joined our Conservation Lands homeschool group once again for another special class. The field trip began with the children learning about non-native, invasive plants and specifically the Air Potato Vine. Because this plant is considered a noxious weed in Florida, parks hold annual "roundups" to prevent the spreading of these plants.
We attended one such roundup on January 19th. It was a great success. In less than one hour, the children had gathered 1,672 potatoes! We used a few for a craft project and placed the rest into black trash bags to throw away.
For a brief lesson on the plant itself, view my post at Air Potato Vine: A Threat to Florida's Native Plants
The child hunting potatoes |
Alexis picking potatoes off the vine |
Here's one!! |
Potatoes which had fallen to the ground |
Entire plants killed off by these invasive vines. |
An air potato |
Tallying up the booty! |
One potato, two potato, three potato.. MORE! |
The children gathering their crafting supplies |
Threading ribbon through her potatoes to make a necklace |
Here are some photos of our class trip. For more information on this particular roundup and plant, please see my post at Air Potato Vine: A Threat to Florida's Native Plants.
Happy Homeschooling!
I just learned something new! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Are they no good for anything?
ReplyDeleteWe live in Florida too; I had never heard of this plant! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of air potatoes! Here our most invasive plants are a type of ivy (English, I think), and kudzu -- but there's no hope in taming kudzu!
ReplyDelete