Summary
A sea urchin starts life as a drifting, see-through larva shaped nothing like the spiny ball it becomes. Deep Look films the astonishing moment the little adult urchin turns itself out and starts a new stage of life.
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All ages
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
A sea urchin's larva looks like a tiny glass sculpture floating in the sea. When it's ready, the adult urchin forms inside and emerges -- a life cycle where young and adult look completely different.
- How does a young sea urchin look different from the adult?
- What happens when the urchin is ready to change?
- Why is it useful to spend the young stage drifting in the open water?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: larva, metamorphosis, life cycle, adult.
Try it: Draw the drifting urchin larva and the spiny adult side by side. Write one big difference between them.