©
2014 CIBT Lichens and Mosses and Water Bears…Oh My! – Teacher Section Page 4
3. Tardigrades have been given the common name as “water bears”. What evidence from your
micrscope observation would support using this name ? They rehydrate so water is necessary for
them to resume activity. They have claws, a big body compared to the size of their little legs, and
they tough, strong organisms that are resistant to a harsh environment.
Tardigrade Reading Answer Key:
1.) C
2.) False
3.) B
Short answer response- students’ answers will vary.
Anticipation Guide for Tardigrade Science Friday YouTube Video: “Behold the Mighty Water
Bear”
1.) True
2.) False
3.) True
4.) True
5.) True
6.) False
Other Resources
Vocabulary:
•Bilateral symmetry: symmetrical arrangement, as of an organism or a body part, along a central axis,
so that the body is divided into equivalent halves.
•Cryptobiosis: the metabolic state some organisms enter in response to adverse environmental
conditions such as freezing, drying, or oxygen deficiency. In this state, all metabolic processes stop,
preventing reproduction, development, and repair until environmental conditions return to being
hospitable. When this occurs, the organism will return to its metabolic state of life as it was prior to
cryptobiosis.
•Eutardigrada: a class of Tardigrada without lateral appendices. These species are primarily found in
lichens, mosses, and leaf litter, but many species are found in freshwater habitats such as lakes, rivers,
and streams.
•Extremophile: an organism that thrives in and even may require physically or geochemically extreme
conditions that are detrimental to the majority of life on Earth.
•Heterotardigrada: a class of tardigrades comprised of two orders: the armored terrestrial tardigrades
and the marine tardigrades. Heterotardigrades have a lateral appendage between the head and the
shoulder plate.
•Meiofauna: animals inhabiting the bottom of a river, lake, or sea that are nearly invisible to the naked
eye with dimensions in the range 0.1 to 1 mm.
•Micrometazoa: extremely small multicellular animals.
•Parthenogenesis: form of reproduction in which an unfertilized egg develops into a new individual; no
males are present in the population.
•Polyextremophiles: an organism which has several extremophilic features.
•Tun: cryoptobiotic state of the tardigrade in which the appendages are drawn inward and metabolism
stops.
*Vocabulary terms acquired from Parks as Class rooms Great Smoky Mountains National Park