Ficus sycomorus

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/ficus-sycomorus

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?Ficus sycomorus
2. What is the lifespan?Individual trees can live for several centuries, becoming ancient landmarks
3. What is the Sycomore Fig and where does it grow?The Sycomore Fig is a big tree that makes lots of figs. It grows in places like Egypt, Israel, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.
4. Why do animals like the Sycomore Fig tree?Animals love it because it gives them food and a safe place to live. Birds, bats, and monkeys can eat its figs and use its branches for nesting.

Keystone Species: A species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed, the ecosystem would change drastically.
Frugivore: An animal that primarily eats fruit.
Syconium: A unique type of fleshy, hollow inflorescence characteristic of Ficus species, containing numerous small flowers.
Mutualism: A symbiotic relationship where both species involved benefit from the interaction.