Tuatua

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/tuatua

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?Paphies subtriangulata
2. What is the diet?Filter feeder, consuming phytoplankton and organic detritus from seawater
3. What is a tuatua and where does it live?A tuatua is a clam that lives in fine, clean sand on New Zealand's exposed coastlines. It likes places with lots of wave action.
4. How does the tuatua stay safe from waves and predators?The tuatua can burrow quickly into the sand, sometimes 30 cm deep in just seconds. It also squirts water when it feels threatened.

Bivalve: A marine or freshwater mollusk that has a compressed body enclosed in a hinged shell, such as oysters, clams, and mussels.
Middens: Archaeological sites consisting of accumulations of domestic refuse, such as shells, bones, and pottery shards, indicating past human habitation.
Intertidal Zone: The area of a shore that is covered by water at high tide and exposed to the air at low tide.
Endemic: Native or restricted to a certain country or area.