Angelica Guzman, Virna Bazan and Allen Williams

The team’s innovative teaching idea, “Native Butterfly Garden,” is focused on establishing a butterfly garden that uses native, drought-resistant flora to teach students a variety of lessons around natural habitats. The native plants, which include asclepias tuberosa, passion flower, heartleaf hibiscus, turk's cap, frog fruit and ruellia, will be used as host and nectar sources. Once the garden is established, it will be an effective and creative tool for students to better understand lessons involving area and perimeter, weather measurements, data graphs, insect life cycles, hydrology, ecosystems, and predator/prey relationships — while also providing many topics for writing prompts. In addition, the school hopes that their garden will qualify to be certified as a 'Best of Texas Backyard Habitats'.