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These are the instructions for this assignment. Your job is to explore and research a current event. You want to dive into the "rabbit hole," so to speak, to understand it as thoroughly as you are able. You may choose any ongoing and robust current event approved by Mrs. Smith.

Your job is to create a guide to your topic, using this tool. For every source that adds to your knowledge of a topic, you should add a link here on Padlet, along with 2-3 sentences of your own summary/insight.

You should color-code based on the following:

Overview/Basic Information

History/Background

Individual stories

Other

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This AllSides Media Bias Chart can help you to find sources and to ensure that your sources come from a variety of perspectives.

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EXAMPLE POSTS ON "INVASIVE SPECIES IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES" CONNECTED BELOW.

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Invasive species are thriving in the Florida Everglades. This list outlines 12 of the worst culprits: five species of reptiles and amphibians; one species of snail; two species of fish; and four species of plants. The Burmese Python is the on in the news the most.

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The Everglades Dirty Dozen are 12 invasive species that are important for the public to be aware of. These animals and plants are established and spreading in South Florida, are easy to identify, and are causing or likely to cause environmental harm.

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Snake hunters bag 106 pythons in Florida effort to control predator

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Snake hunters bag 106 pythons in Florida effort to control predator

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Florida has had several state-sponsored hunts for the invasive pythons in order to reduce the population. They have been having these events since 2013, and the numbers caught each year continue to grow.

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REUTERS - Snake hunters stalked the invasive Burmese python in the Florida Everglades this year, capturing 106 of the predators in the state-sponsored "Python Challenge," including one measuring 15 feet (4.6 meters), officials said on Saturday.

The challenge, which ran from January 16 to February 14, is similar to other hunts of problem species, such as Texas' campaign against feral hogs, which are blamed for agricultural damage, and Michigan's targeting of the invasive Asian carp fish.

It is unclear exactly how many Burmese pythons are slithering around the Florida Everglades, since they are masters of stealth, but they number at least in the thousands, said Florida Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Carli Segelson.

Still, state officials are hopeful that hunts such as the one they sponsored can keep the snake in check. Florida is aiming to eradicate the species from the wild to protect native mammals, birds and reptiles in the Everglades.

The pythons, which are native to Asia, arrived in Florida as pets, and some of them escaped into the wild and quickly reproduced.

On Saturday, officials honored the Python Challenge's top hunters, at a ceremony in Davie. Bill Booth and his team won the grand prize of $5,000. They removed 33 snakes, including the 15-footer, which weighed in at 125 pounds (56.7 kg), wildlife officials said.

The state has trained participants in how to capture the snakes: Pin their heads to the ground with a hook, grab their bodies and bag them.

"We fought this thing for 20 minutes and I didn't think we were going to get it out of there," Booth, speaking at the ceremony, said of his team's largest snake. "But we had to get it out alive for the challenge and that's what we did."

All the snakes caught in the challenge were eventually killed, but in many areas state rules called for the snakes to be turned in live, Segelson said. The state's preferred method for killing the pythons is to drive a bolt into their brains.

The 106 pythons caught this year far surpasses the haul of 68 from a similar hunt Florida sponsored in 2013, Segelson said. It has not been determined if a Python Challenge will be held next year, but state officials encourage the killing of pythons apart from the competition, she said.

Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Leslie Adler

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

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Snake hunters bag 106 pythons in Florida effort to control predator

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Snake hunters stalked the invasive Burmese python in the Florida Everglades this year, capturing 106 of the predators in the state-sponsored "Python Challenge," including one measuring 15 feet (4.6 meters), officials said on Saturday.

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What is an invasive species and why are they a problem?

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What is an invasive species and why are they a problem?

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Invasive species are not just out of place; they also damage the ecosystem. They do not have natural predators or environmental checks and balances, so they reproduce and damage the landscape outside of the expected "circle of life" in an area.

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An invasive species is an introduced, nonnative organism (disease, parasite, plant, or animal) that begins to spread or expand its range from the site of its original introduction and that has the potential to cause harm to the environment, the economy, or to human health.

A few well-known examples include the unintentional introduction of the West Nile virus, chestnut blight, the South American fire ant, zebra mussels, Burmese pythons, and sea lamprey. These are in addition to the intentional introductions of salt cedar (Tamarisk), kudzu vine, house sparrows, starlings, and nutria.

More than 6,500 of these harmful, non-native species cause more than 100 billion dollars in damage each year to the U.S. economy. Costly effects include crop decimation, clogging of water facilities and waterways, wildlife and human disease transmission, threats to fisheries, increased fire vulnerability, and adverse effects for ranchers and farmers.

Learn more: USGS Invasive Species Program

Related Content

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What is an invasive species and why are they a problem?

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An invasive species is an introduced, nonnative organism (disease, parasite, plant, or animal) that begins to spread or expand its range from the site of its original introduction and that has the potential to cause harm to the environment, the economy, or to human health.

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Floridian Spends Retirement Capturing Invasive Lizards That Threaten Native Wildlife

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Floridian Spends Retirement Capturing Invasive Lizards That Threaten Native Wildlife

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Sid Pennington is one of the people trying to reduce the tegu population in the Everglades. He has captured 117 of the large lizards.

As of 2022, over 12,000 tegus had been removed from the Florida wild.

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Floridian Spends Retirement Capturing Invasive Lizards That Threaten Native Wildlife

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Sid Pennington has decided to spend his retirement trapping invasive lizards threatening native wildlife in his community.

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2-3 sentences

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Trump policies reshape the role of federally owned land, against the tide of U.S. public opinion