What would be strong evidence to suggest a protist is phagotrophic?

Question

A.  An abundance of lysosomes
B.  Locomotion using polar flagella
C.  Silicon dioxide cell walls
D.  Benthic lifestyle
E.  Presence of chloroplasts

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 the nutritional strategies of protists? How does it relate to the question?
· What other information is related to the question? Which information is most useful?
 
Choose Answer
· Given what you now know, what information and/or problem solving approach is most likely to produce the correct answer?
 
Reflect 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?

Answer 1

A.  An abundance of lysosomes

Clarify Question
· What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        o This question gives you five characteristics of a protist. You need to determine which characteristic would tell you that the protist is phagotrophic.
· What type of thinking is required?
        o This question is an “evaluate” question, so it is asking you to judge which of the statements provides the best evidence of phagotrophy. All of the statements could be correct, but only one provides evidence of phagotrophy.
 
Gather Content
· What do you already know about the nutritional strategies of protists? How does it relate to the question?
        o Protists can be autotrophic, heterotrophic, or mixotrophic.
        o Autotrophs get their energy from photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. What characteristics would you expect in a protist that does photosynthesis?
        o Heterotrophs get their energy by eating things, but single-celled organisms don’t eat things the way we do. An amoeba is an example of a heterotrophic protist. How does an amoeba get food?
        o Mixotrophs, such as Euglena, can use either photosynthesis or heterotrophy.
· What other information is related to the question? Which information is most useful?
        o A similar word you may have heard before is “phagocytosis”. Do you remember this vocabulary term from cellular biology?
 
Choose Answer
· Given what you now know, what information and/or problem solving approach is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        o You know phagotrophy is a nutritional strategy, and that it involves eating things. Which characteristic would be essential for a protist that wants to eat a food particle? Other statements could still be true about the organism, but one of them is essential.
 
Reflect 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?
        o This question asked you to determine which characteristics would be essential for an organism that is phototrophic.
        o If you got the correct answer, great job!
        o If you got an incorrect answer, where did you get stuck?
            · This was an “evaluate” question, which required you to weigh and judge which piece of evidence would convince you that the protist is phagotrophic.