Download Symbiosis 1

Name: ____________________________________ Period: ____ Date: __ /__ / __
Symbiosis 1
Each sentence below describes the relationship between two different species.
Procedure:
1. Above each underlined and bolded species, write one of the following:
A. + (to show the species is helped from the relationship)
B. – (to show the species is hurt by the relationship)
C. o (to show the species is not helped nor harmed by the relationship)
2. Using the letters below, identify on the line whether the relationship is an example of Mutualism,
Parasitism, or Commensalism.
A. Mutualism
 a relationship in which both organisms benefit
B. Parasitism
 a relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed
C. Commensalism
 a relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is not harmed nor helped
1. ____ Barnacles create home sites by attaching themselves to whales. The barnacles don’t help
the whales, but they also don’t hurt them.
2. ____ 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 can each
identify threats that the other animal would not see as readily.
3. ____ Termites eat wood, but like most animals, they lack the enzymes necessary to break down
the main chemicals in plant tissues (cellulose & lignin). Many microscopic organisms live in the
digestive tract of termites and the microbes break down (eat) these difficult-to-digest chemicals.
4. ____ Wrasse fish feed on the parasites found on the black sea bass’s body. The wrasse fish
get a meal and the black sea bass is helped by the removal of the parasites.
5. ____ A cuckoo may lay its eggs in a warbler’s nest. The cuckoo’s young will knock the warbler’s
eggs out of a nest and the warbler will raise the cuckoo’s young.
6. ____ Remoras travel with a shark and feed on the leftover food scraps from the shark’s meals.
7. ____ Mistletoe extracts (takes) water and nutrients from a spruce tree.
8. ____ Oxpeckers feed on the ticks found on a rhinoceros. The oxpeckers get a meal and the
rhinoceros is helped by the removal of the ticks.
9. ____ The stork uses it 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.
10. ____ A flea feeds on a mouse’s blood and harms the mouse.
Name: ____________________________________ Period: ____ Date: __ /__ / __
Symbiosis 2
Each sentence below describes the relationship between two different species.
Procedure:
1. Above each underlined and bolded species, write one of the following:
A. + (to show the species is helped from the relationship)
B. – (to show the species is hurt by the relationship)
C. o (to show the species is not helped nor harmed by the relationship)
2. Using the letters below, identify on the line whether the relationship is an example of Mutualism,
Parasitism, or Commensalism.
A. Mutualism
 a relationship in which both organisms benefit
B. Parasitism
 a relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed
C. Commensalism
 a relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is not harmed nor helped
1. ____ Ticks will feed on a deer’s blood and harm the deer.
2. ____ Orchids grow inside a bromeliad plant. The orchid obtains water and nutrients from the
bromeliad.
3. ____ Spider crabs live in shallow areas of the ocean floor, and algae lives on the crabs' backs,
making the crabs blend in with their environment, and unnoticeable to predators. When the crabs
move, the algae on their backs get exposed to new areas of the ocean with new nutrients.
4. ____ 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 feed on the honey.
5. ____ Hermit crabs live in shells that were made by snails. The snails abandon the shells when
they out grow them.
6. ____ A sparrow will build its nest under the nest of an osprey. The smaller birds get protection
because other predators will not mess with the osprey. Ospreys eat mainly fish and do not attack
the sparrows.
7. ____ As bison walk through grass, insects become active and are seen and eaten by birds.
8. ____ A wasp lays its eggs on a caterpillar. When the wasp eggs hatch, the larva will eat the
caterpillar and kill it.
9. ____ 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.
10. ____ Heartworms develop inside a dog’s heart. While the worms grow and develop in the dog,
the worms cause the dog health problems and may result in death.