Nigella sativa

High school (ages 12+)
Food & Cooking

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/nigella-sativa

1. What is the scientific name?
2. What is the plant family?
3. What are nigella sativa seeds and why are they called kalonji or black cumin?
4. Where does nigella sativa grow and why is it found in many places?

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?Nigella sativa
2. What is the plant family?Ranunculaceae
3. What are nigella sativa seeds and why are they called kalonji or black cumin?They are tiny black, crescent-shaped seeds from the nigella sativa plant. They are called kalonji or black cumin because they look like small black cumin seeds and are used as a spice.
4. Where does nigella sativa grow and why is it found in many places?It is native to Western Asia and Eastern Europe, but it can grow in many climates and has spread to Africa, Europe, and Asia. Its seeds were popular, so people planted it in new places.

Annual herbaceous plant: A plant that lives for one year, growing from seed, flowering, and producing seeds before dying.
Bioactive compounds: Natural substances found in plants that can have an effect on living organisms.
Thymoquinone: A primary chemical compound found in Nigella sativa seeds, studied for its potential medicinal properties.