Summary
This tiny sea slug eats algae -- and then keeps the algae's green, sunlight-catching parts alive inside its own body. Deep Look reveals how the slug 'steals' the power to make food from the sun.
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All ages
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
The sea slug eats algae and stores the algae's chloroplasts in its skin, where they keep making food from sunlight for weeks. The slug borrows a plant-like structure to get energy -- a sneaky survival trick.
- What does this sea slug take from the algae it eats?
- How does keeping those green parts help the slug get food?
- Why is this trick like being part animal and part plant?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: chloroplast, algae, energy, structure.
Try it: Color a slug shape green and draw the sun above it. Write how the slug uses stolen green parts to make food from sunlight.