Excavata

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/excavata

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 related topics?Protistology, evolutionary biology, parasitology, microbial ecology, cell biology
2. Why do many Excavata have a ventral feeding groove?The groove lets them grab food or soak up nutrients. It shows how they evolved to eat in different ways.
3. How do Excavata help the environment?They eat bacteria and algae, and they break down dead matter. This turns organic material into nutrients that plants can use.

Eukaryote: An organism whose cells contain a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles, distinguishing them from prokaryotes.
Ventral feeding groove: A specialized invagination on the underside of many Excavata used for capturing and ingesting food particles.
Phagocytosis: The process by which a cell engulfs large particles or other cells, forming a food vacuole.
Symbiosis: A close ecological interaction between two different biological species, which may be mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic.