Dictydiaethalium

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/dictydiaethalium

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?Dictydiaethalium
2. What is the diet?Microorganisms including bacteria, yeast, and fungal spores, acquired via phagocytosis
3. How do Dictydiaethalium slime molds move and eat?They grow as a plasmodium, a large mass of many nuclei that creeps along surfaces. This plasmodium absorbs food from bacteria, yeast, and fungal spores.
4. Where do Dictydiaethalium slime molds live?They live in damp, shaded places like forest floors, on decaying logs, leaf litter, and humus-rich soil. They are found in temperate and tropical regions where there is plenty of moisture.

Mycetozoa: A group of eukaryotic organisms commonly known as slime molds, distinct from true fungi, plants, and animals.
Plasmodium: The vegetative, mobile, and feeding stage of a slime mold, characterized by a multinucleated mass of protoplasm.
Sporangia: Fruiting bodies produced by slime molds that contain and disperse spores for reproduction.
Emergent Intelligence: Complex problem-solving behavior that arises from the collective actions of simpler components, without a central control system.