Freshwater crab

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/freshwater-crab

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 makes freshwater crabs different from sea crabs?Freshwater crabs have direct development: the female carries a few eggs and they hatch into fully formed baby crabs, skipping the planktonic larval stage that sea crabs have.
2. How do freshwater crabs help rivers and lakes?They eat algae, plants, decaying matter, insects, worms, and even small fish, breaking down food and recycling nutrients in the water.

Planktonic Larvae: Microscopic, free-swimming larval stages of marine invertebrates that drift in ocean currents.
Endemism: The ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island or a specific habitat.
Anthropogenic Pressures: Environmental damage or changes caused by human activities.