Sporobolus alterniflorus

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/sporobolus-alterniflorus

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?Sporobolus alterniflorus
2. What is the native range?Atlantic coast of the Americas, from Newfoundland, Canada, to northern Argentina
3. What is smooth cordgrass and where does it grow?Smooth cordgrass is a tall, hollow-stemmed grass that lives in salty marshes along the Atlantic coast, from Canada all the way down to Argentina.
4. How does smooth cordgrass help protect the coast?It traps sand and mud with its roots and leaves, raising the marsh surface and keeping storms and sea‑level rise from flooding nearby land.

Oligohaline Conditions: Water with a low salt concentration, typically between 0.5 and 5 parts per thousand.
Psuedo-Saltmarsh: A term sometimes used to describe artificial or modified salt marsh environments.
Rhizomatous Growth: A form of asexual reproduction and vegetative spread through underground stems.