Daphnia

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/daphnia

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?Daphnia spp
2. What are Daphnia and why are they called water fleas?Daphnia are tiny crustaceans that live in freshwater. They are called water fleas because they hop and swim like little fleas. They are usually 0.2 to 6 mm long.
3. How do Daphnia help keep pond water clean?Daphnia filter tiny particles from the water with their legs. By eating algae and bacteria, they keep the water clear and stop harmful algal blooms. This also helps recycle nutrients in the pond.

Planktonic Crustaceans: Small aquatic arthropods that drift in water bodies, unable to maintain position against currents.
Filter Feeding: A method of feeding where organisms strain small food particles from water using specialized appendages.
Trophic Link: A connection in a food chain that shows the flow of energy from one organism to another.
Eutrophication: The excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.