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Sponge Coloring

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SpongesAColoringWorksheet
Sincespongeslooklikeplants,itisunderstandablewhyearlybiologists
thoughttheywereplants.Today,weknowthatspongesaresimple,
multicellularanimalsintheKingdomAnimalia,PhylumPorifera.Thisphylum
isthoughttorepresentthetransitionfromunicellularanimalstomulticellular
animals.Most(butnotall)spongesareasymmetricalandhavenodefinite
shape.Sponges,likeallanimals,areeukaryoticmeaningtheircellshavea
nucleus.PoriferainLatinmeans"porebearer"andreferstothemanyporesor
openingsintheseanimals.Becauseofthesepores,aspongecansoakupand
releasewater.Atonetime,realspongeswereusedforcleaningandbathing.
Today,mostareartificiallymade.
Alladultspongesaresessile,meaningtheyareattachedtosomesurface.
Sincetheycannotmove,spongescannotpursuetheirfood.Instead,theyare
filterfeeders,meaningtheyobtaintheirfoodbystrainingthewaterforsmall
bitsoffoodlikebacteria,algaeorprotozoans.
Spongesexhibitlessspecialization(adaptationofacellforaparticular
function)ofcellsthanmostinvertebrates.Theprimitivestructureofasponge
consistsofonlytwolayersofcellsseparatedbyanonlivingjellylike
substance.Theouterlayerofthespongeistheepidermiswhichismadeof
flatcellscalledepithelialcells.Coloralltheepithelialcells(B)oftheepidermis
peachorpink.
Theinnerlayerconsistsofcollarcells(A)whosefunctionistocirculatewater
throughthesponge.Theydothisbyswishingtheirflagellawhichpullswater
throughtheincurrentporewaterthentravelsouttheosculumatthetopof
thesponge.Aswaterpassesthroughthespongeinthisway,cellsabsorbfood
andoxygenandwasteisexcreted.Colortheosculum(D)darkblue,the
incurrentpores(C)lightblue.Colortheinsideofthespongewherewater
circulatesthesamelightblueasyoucoloredtheincurrentpores.Colorallthe
collarcells(A)red.
Inthejellylikesubstancebetweentheepidermisandthecollarcellsarecells
calledamebocytesbecausetheylooklikeamebas.Thejobofthe
amebocytesistotravelarounddistributingfoodandoxygentothecellsofthe
epidermis.Becauseoftheamebocytes,scientistsbelievethatsponges
evolvedfromprotists.Coloralloftheamebocytes(E)greenlookforthem
carefully.
Thebodyofthespongewouldcollapseifitdidnothavesometypeof
supportingstructure.Somespongeshaveasoftnetworkofproteinfibers
calledspongin.Othershavetiny,hardparticlescalledspicules.Manyof
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Reproductionforspongescanbeaccomplishedbothsexuallyand
asexually.Therearethreewaysforaspongetoreproduce
asexually:budding,gemmules,andregeneration.Spongescan
simplyreproducebybudding,whereanewspongegrowsfrom
olderonesandeventuallybreakoff.Colortheadultsponge(J)pink
andallthebuds(G)youcanfindred.Spongescanalsoreproduce
byregeneration,wheremissingbodypartsareregrown.Peoplewho
harvestspongesoftentakeadvantageofthisbybreakingoffpieces
oftheircatchandthrowingthembackinthewater,tobeharvested
later.Finally,spongescanreproducebycreatinggemmuleswhich
isagroupofamebocytescoveredbyahardoutercovering.Color
thegemmule(H)yellow.
Sexualreproductionoccurswhenonespongereleasessperminto
thewater.Thisspermtravelstoanotherspongeandfertilizesits
eggs.Thelarvaformwillthenswimtoanotherlocationusingits
flagellawhereitwillgrowintoanadultsponge.Mostspongespecies
arehermaphrodites,theycanproducebotheggsandsperm.

Questions:
1.Whatdidearlybiologiststhinkspongeswhere?_______________
2.SpongesbelongtotheKingdom_________________andthe
Phylum_______________
3.Spongesare[unicellularormulticelluar]and[prokaryoticor
eukaryotic]
4.Whattypeofsymmetrydospongeshave_________________
5.Whatdoesitmeantobesessile?______________________
6.Howdospongesgettheirfood?_______________________
7.Waterentersthespongethroughthe_____________________
andleavesthroughthe___________________
8.Whathelpstocirculatewaterthroughsponge?_____________
9.Whatisthejoboftheamebocyte?_________________________
10.Whattwosubstancesgivethespongesupport?
_________________________________
12.Tinyspongesgrowingfromthemainbodyofthespongeare
called______________________
13.Whatisagemmule?______________________________
14.Whatisahermaphrodite?___________________________
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thesespiculesalsostickoutoftheepidermisandprovidethespongewith
protection.Mostspongeshaveacombinationofspiculesandspongin,theratiooftendetermineshowsoftorhardthespongeis.Searchforandcolor
allthepointyspicules(F)brown.

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Sponge Coloring

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