Download SymbiosisSTUD_4

Name:____________________________ Period: ______ Date: ____________ Score: _______
Symbiotic Relationships: Animal “Buddies” in Nature?!
Warm up:
Background Information, READ ME!!: Elements of any ecological system live in an intricate web of interdependence.
When two species of organisms live in close association with each other, their relationship is called “symbiotic”. In
symbiotic relationships, at least one of the organisms directly benefits from its close association with the other organism. There
are three major forms of symbiotic relationships:

Commensalism: A relationship in which one species derives food or shelter from another species without seriously
harming that organism or providing any benefits in return.

Mutualism: A reciprocal relationship in which the two different species benefit and are dependent upon the relationship.

Parasitism: A relationship between two species in which one species (the parasite) nourishes itself to the detriment of the
other species (the host).
Define each of the above types of symbiotic relationships in your own words.
A. Commensalism:
B. Mutualism:
C. Parasitism:
Activity Directions:
On the back of this paper you will find a table that needs to be filled in. Read the Animal “Buddies” and then the description.
Try to decide which of the 3 of the symbiotic relationships is represented here and answer the questions. If you are good boys
and girls, then we will play a game.
1.
COMPLETE THE TABLE ON THE BACK FIRST then do #2 and then #3 at the VERY end!!!
2.
Pick ONE PAIR of animals that form each of the 3 types of Symbiotic Relationships. Describe the relationship in your
own words answering these types of questions: Why do they live together? Is this more cooperative or competitive? What
advantages and disadvantages do they provide each other? What would happen if one of the animal buddies were not
there?
a)
COMMENSALISM relationship. They are ____________________ and _____________________.
b) MUTUALISM relationship. They are ____________________ and _____________________.
c)
PARASITISM relationship. They are ____________________ and _____________________.
ANIMAL BUDDY TABLE:
Animal Buddies
Symbiotic
Relationship
Explanation
Honey guide birds alert and direct badgers to bee hives. The
badgers then expose the hives and feed on the honey first. Next
the honey guide birds eat.
Badger
Honey guide
bird
Barnacle
Whale
Black sea
bass
Wrasse fish
Wrasse fish feed on the parasites founds on the black sea bass’s
body.
Cowbird
Bison
As bison walk through grass, insects become active and are seen
and eaten by cowbirds.
Cuckoo
Warbler
Deer
Hermit
crab
Tick
Snail shell
Barnacles create home sites by attaching themselves to whales.
A cuckoo may lay its eggs in a warbler’s nest. The cuckoo’s
young will displace the warbler’s young, and the warbler will
raise the cuckoo’s young.
Ticks feed on deer blood to the deer’s detriment.
Hermit crabs live in shells made and then abandoned by the
snails.
Maribou
strork
Bee
The stork uses its saw-like bill to cut up the dead animals it eats.
As a result, the dead animal carcass is accessible to some bees
for food and egg laying.
Mistletoe
Spruce tree
Mistletoe extracts water and nutrients from the spruce tree to the
tree’s detriment.
Mouse
Flea
Ostrich
Gazelle
Oxpecker
Rhinoceros
Remora
Shark
Silverfish
Army Ants
Yucca
plant
3.
Yucca moth
A flea feeds on a mouse’s blood to the mouse’s detriment.
Ostriches and gazelles feed next to each other. They both watch
for predators and alert each other to danger. Because the visual
abilities of the two species are different, they each can identify
threats that the other animal would not see as readily.
Oxpeckers feed on the ticks found on a rhinoceros.
Remoras attach themselves to a shark’s body. They travel with
the shark and fee on the leftover food scraps from the shark’s
meals.
Silverfish live and hunt with army ants, and share the prey.
Yucca flowers are pollinated by yucca moths. The moths lay
their eggs in the flowers where the larvae hatch and eat some of
the developing seeds.
Summary question: In at least 6 sentences, and using specific examples from above, explain how cooperation and
competition both exist in nature.