Aquatic locomotion

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/aquatic-locomotion

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Not applicable to a general concept
2. What are the basic ways tiny animals move in water?Tiny animals use tiny hairs called cilia or long tails called flagella to wiggle and push water, helping them glide and feed.
3. How do fish swim?Fish swim by making their bodies undulate and moving their tails side‑to‑side, while fins help steer and lift them.

Aquatic locomotion: The biological process of self-propelled movement through a liquid medium, primarily water, involving complex biomechanical principles.
Drag: The resistance force exerted by a fluid (like water) on an object moving through it, a primary challenge in aquatic locomotion.
Thrust: The force generated by an organism's movement that propels it forward through the water.
Hydrodynamics: The branch of physics that studies the motion of fluids and the forces acting on objects submerged in them, crucial for understanding aquatic movement.