Classroom Questions

Questions for ‘Many flowers and ferns lure in ants as bodyguards’

A close-up shot shows nine ants climbing on a peony bud. Pink petals peek out from green guard petals.

Most flowers make nectar to lure bees and other pollinators. But some plants, like peonies, produce nectar in other places, too, called nectaries. They do this to recruit ants, which act as bodyguards against plant-eating insects.

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By Science News Explores

To accompany ‘Many flowers and ferns lure in ants as bodyguards’

SCIENCE

Before Reading:

  1. What are herbivores? Describe two strategies that plants might use to avoid getting eaten by them.
  2. Come up with a specific example of two species that each provide some benefit to the other. Imagine one of these species could no longer carry out its role. What might the consequences of that change be for the other species? Do you think relationships in which two species benefit one another are common or uncommon in the natural world? Briefly explain your answer.

During Reading:

  1. During which period in Earth’s history did flowering plants emerge?
  2. What problem might plant adaptations such as spines or thorns help to address?
  3. What is the purpose of nectaries on plants?
  4. Besides flowering plants, what is another type of plant that has nectaries?
  5. Describe one specific benefit that the ants in this story provide to the plant.
  6. Describe one specific benefit that the plants in this story provide to the ants.
  7. In the context of this story, what is a mutualistic relationship?
  8. Why is the relationship between ants and plants described in the story as mutualistic?

After Reading:

  1. Sometimes, experiments that yield unexpected results lead to surprising discoveries. Find one example of a scientist in this story who makes predictions and then learns something surprising after finding those predictions inaccurate. Summarize this scientist’s prediction. Then explain how their understanding changed due to unexpected findings.
  2. Consider other ways plants have adapted to be able to benefit from the behavior of animal species. Describe two specific examples. For one of your examples, determine whether or not this relationship could be classified as mutualistic. Briefly explain why it would or would not count as a mutualistic relationship.