Typha

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

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/typha

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 botanical classification?Genus Typha, family Typhaceae, comprising approximately 15-17 species
2. What is a cattail and why does it have a fuzzy brown top?A cattail is a water plant with a tall, brown, fluffy seed head that looks like cotton. The fluff helps the plant spread its seeds in the water.
3. How do cattails help keep wetlands clean?Cattails absorb extra nitrogen and phosphorus from the water, which reduces pollution and keeps the wetland healthy.

Aerenchyma: Plant tissue with large air spaces, facilitating gas exchange in submerged or waterlogged organs.
Eutrophication: Excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, causing algal blooms and oxygen depletion.
Phytoremediation: The use of plants to remove, transfer, stabilize, or destroy contaminants in soil or water.
Rhizome: A modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes.