Summary
Tadpole shrimp look almost exactly like their ancestors from hundreds of millions of years ago, and their eggs can wait years in dry mud for water to return. Deep Look shows how these living fossils hatch, grow and race through a short life in temporary pools.
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All ages
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
Tadpole shrimp eggs survive dry spells and hatch fast when rain fills a pool. The shrimp grow quickly, lay tough eggs, and the pool dries up -- a speedy life cycle tuned to a habitat that comes and goes.
- How do tadpole shrimp survive when their pool dries up?
- Why do they grow up so quickly after hatching?
- How does their life cycle match a habitat that isn't always wet?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: life cycle, hatch, living fossil, habitat.
Try it: Draw a puddle appearing after rain with shrimp hatching. Write how their fast life cycle fits a pool that dries up.