Cnidarian WebQuest

Hello all,

This blog is created specifically to bring together all of the blogs related to Cnidarians to serve as a webquest / self learning activity. Below are some key questions to answer while reading the links. Below the questions will be a list of the links. Read all of the information on the outside sources (it is really not that much), and answer the questions.

Happy Discovery!

Answer the following:

1. Describe Cnidarian diversity; include: Kingdom and phylum names, number of species, and the important taxonomic classes.
2.  Draw a model to represent the life cycle of Cnidarians. On the model, indicate which type of Cnidarians spends the majority of its life in the polyp stage, and which spends most of its time in the medusa stage.
3. Describe the body plan of Cnidarians. 
4. How do the Cnidarians reproduce?
5. Describe how Cnidarians obtain food and eliminate waste.
6. Why do many Cnidarians "sting" to touch?
7. Know the following terms:
• Niche
• Medusa
• Polyp
• Colonial
• Nematocysts / cnidocysts
• Symbiosis

Resources Needed:

• Introduction to Cnidarians
• Cnidarian Diversity
• Cnidarian Life Cycle
• Cindarian Reproduction
• Anatomy of a Cnidarian
• Cnidarian Ecology
• Cnidarian "Hunters" (youtube)
• UCMP Glossary

Cnidarians Background Information

Cnidarians: Introduction and Important Classes.

Cnidarians are a phylum are simple animals in the kingdom Animalia, with more than 9,000 species. These almost 10,000 species are sorted into 4 different classes: Anthozoa, Hydrozoa, Cubozoa, and Scyphozoa. Each of these classes of cnidarians has their own unique characteristics. 

The Classes: 

Anthozoa –

This class includes coral, sea anemones, and sea pens. This is the most diverse group of cnidarians, containing around 6,500 species. The life cycle for this group is different than that of the other 3 classes, as there is a very reduced medusa stage, and in some species, this phase is more present at all.

Hydrozoa –  

This class includes hydroids, siphonophores, fire corals. All of these animals tend to very small, but often reside in colonies. These colonies can become very large, and the entire colony will express only one gender - either male or female. 

Cubozoa - 

This class includes jelly fish like animals called box jellies and sea wasps. Box jellies are called such, as they have a cube shaped medusa stage. It is this class of cnidarians which are the most lethal; their venom can cause paralysis and even death of humans and other large animals. These jellies are so unique because they have true eyes! (See below?!)

Scyphozoa - 

This class includes the true jellies. All of these jellies can be found only in marine environments. Species of jellyfish in this calls have been recorded as being more than 6.6 feet in length!

Welcome

Hello Everyone!

I have created this site, as I find that it can be really hard to find web resources about information I want to use in class. With NGSS up and coming, and many schools with poor budgets for lab materials and specimens, I have found that there is a gap in getting comprehensive inquiry based investigations about topics that do not easily lend themselves to labs. I know there are likely not many schools with access to the ocean, elaborate salt water aquariums,  well preserved specimens of sponges, jellyfish, or even prepared slides made within the last 20 years! And, the school I am at not, cannot even afford a 20 minute drive to have a small class (11 students) visit a hospital for our anatomy unit.

So, thus is my mission to make the resources I find and the activities I prepare more available to other teachers and to the students in the classroom. During that mission, I hope that individuals who use this site provide feedback on the resource and share other useful resources that they find along the way!

Happy Discovery!

Ms. Stenger