Carnivorous Plants and Their Traps | Plant Adaptations

Plants make their own food through photosynthesis, but photosynthesis alone is not enough. They also need other nutrients, and carnivorous plants take a more extreme approach than other plants when nutrients are hard to find. To survive, they have developed adaptations to trap prey, including pitfall traps, suction traps, and snap traps. Disponible en español.

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Questions and Prompts for Educators

Check for Understanding

How do plants make their own food?
What is a carnivorous plant?

Take It Further

There are many kinds of carnivorous plant traps. Which type of plant trap do you think works best and why?

Create

Draw or describe your own kind of carnivorous plant. Where does it live? What kind of critters does it eat? How does it trap its food? What does it look like?

Make a Personal Connection

What types of food would you recommend a friend eat to get the nutrients they need?

Next Generation Science Standards: Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS1.A: STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
How do the structures of organisms enable life’s functions?
LS1.C: ORGANIZATION FOR MATTER AND ENERGY FLOW IN ORGANISMS
How do organisms obtain and use the matter and energy they need to live and grow?
LS4.C: ADAPTATION
How does the environment influence populations of organisms over multiple generations?

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