Summary
The Cape sundew is a plant that eats bugs. Deep Look shows how its glistening, glue-tipped tentacles lure, trap, and slowly curl around insects to get nutrients its boggy soil can't provide.
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All ages
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
A sundew grows in poor soil, so it catches insects for nutrients. Sticky, shiny tentacles trap a bug, then bend inward to hold and digest it -- structures built for a plant that hunts.
- Why does a sundew catch insects instead of getting everything from the soil?
- How do the sticky tentacles trap and hold a bug?
- What do the plant's structures do that ordinary leaves don't?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: carnivorous, tentacle, nutrient, trap.
Try it: Touch a bit of tape sticky-side up and press a paper scrap on it. Write how a sundew's sticky leaves trap an insect.