Slime mold

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

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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/slime-mold

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 conservation status?Not applicable; slime molds are widespread and not subject to conservation assessments
2. What is a slime mold and how does it move?Slime molds are gooey blobs that move by pumping their own liquid inside them, like a tiny river inside a jelly.
3. How do slime molds solve mazes?They spread out and use tiny chemical signals to find the quickest path to food, even without a brain.

Plasmodial Slime Mold: A type of slime mold characterized by a large, multinucleate cell (plasmodium) that creeps and feeds.
Cellular Slime Mold: A type of slime mold that exists as individual amoebas until food scarcity triggers aggregation into a multicellular 'slug'.
Cytoplasmic Streaming: The internal flow of cytoplasm within a cell, enabling movement and nutrient transport in slime molds.
Phagocytosis: The cellular process of engulfing and internalizing external particles or cells for nutrition.