Cycad

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/cycad

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?Order: Cycadales
2. What are cycads?Cycads are ancient seed‑bearing plants that look a bit like pineapples. They have a thick trunk and big, feather‑shaped leaves.
3. Why were cycads so important when dinosaurs roamed the Earth?During the Mesozoic Era, cycads formed huge forests and were a main food source for many herbivorous dinosaurs.

Gymnosperm: A plant group whose seeds are not enclosed within an ovary, such as cycads, conifers, and ginkgoes.
Mesozoic Era: The geological period (252 to 66 million years ago) characterized by the dominance of dinosaurs and cycads.
Coralloid Roots: Specialized root structures in cycads that house symbiotic cyanobacteria for nitrogen fixation.
Dioecious: Having male and female reproductive organs on separate individual plants.