Which of the following is an example of commensalism?
A. a tapeworm living in the intestines of a mule deer
B. barnacles hitching a ride on the skin of a whale
C. a female mosquito sucking blood from a musk oxen
D. wood-digesting flagellates living in the gut of termites
E. acacia trees and their ants
Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
Gather Content:
What do you already know about commensalism? What other information is related to the question?
Choose Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
B. barnacles hitching a ride on the skin of a whale
Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
In this question you are being presented with five situations and you need to determine which one is a commensalistic relationship.
What type of thinking is required?
This is an application question. You will need to apply your knowledge of symbiotic relationships in order to determine the correct answer.
Gather Content:
What do you already know about commensalism? What other information is related to the question?
Commensalism relationships are where one organism benefits and the other is not affected in any way.
Choose Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Barnacles hitching a ride on the skin of whales is an example of commensalism. By attaching to the whale skin, the barnacles, which are otherwise sedentary as adults, are able to locate habitats with a better food supply. The whale is not affected by the barnacle.
Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
You needed to apply your knowledge of symbiotic relationships. Parasitic relationships are often the easiest to identify and the commensalism is less clear because it is sometime difficult to determine that the second organism is not affected by the relationship. Were you able to select the correct answer?
You might also like to view...
What is meant by the term genetic code?
What will be an ideal response?
Answer the following statements true (T) or false (F)
1. Bacterial cells always contain one copy of a circular chromosome. 2. Bacteria can exchange DNA between strains of the same species and between different species. 3. Viroids have a genome but do not translate any of it to protein. 4. All forms of horizontal gene transfer require both the recipient and donor bacteria to be alive.
When Darwin covered the tip of a grass seedling with metal foil and then illuminated it from one side, what happened to the seedling?
A. It bent away from the directional light. B. It did not respond to the directional light. C. It waved back and forth. D. It wilted and died. E. It grew toward the light, as expected.
Plasma is also called lymph.
Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)