Information on Diatoms and Dinoflagellates
1. Watch the video and read through the information on diatoms and dinoflagellates.
2. Type in the appropriate columns below the characteristics that apply to diatoms, dinoflagellates and the characteristics they share Characteristics of Diatoms
Similarities Between Diatoms and Dinoflagellates
Characteristics of Dinoflagellates
Diatoms are biological producers, meaning they produce energy in the form of sugar from sunlight.
Diatoms exist as single cells, although some of them flock together in colonies that create some really pretty forms.
Each individual cell is covered in a hardened frustule made from silica.
They are both alike in that they are both protists.
However, dinoflagellates are a part of a group called alveolates. They are most common in marine and freshwater phytoplankton. Some are heterotrophic.
Diatoms, on the other, are a part of a group called stramenopiles. They are unicellular, photosynthetic algae with cell walls that contain silica.
Dinoflagellates are a diverse group of flagellate eukaryotic microorganisms
Dinoflagellates are unicellular, free-swimming, biflagellate organisms
Dinoflagellates have approximately 150 genera and 1500 species.
3. Use your chart to start making a deduction about the cause of the food poisoning. Based on the information you’ve gathered do you feel that the cause of the food poisoning is a diatom or a dinoflagellate? Why?
The dinoflagellate causes illness. A diatom is a very small type of hard shelled plankton. Dinoflagellate sometimes bloom in concentrations of more than a million cells per milliliter. Some species produce neurotoxins, which in such quantities kill fish and accumulate in filter feeders such as shellfish, which in turn may pass them on to people who eat them, which causes food poison.
2. Type in the appropriate columns below the characteristics that apply to diatoms, dinoflagellates and the characteristics they share Characteristics of Diatoms
Similarities Between Diatoms and Dinoflagellates
Characteristics of Dinoflagellates
Diatoms are biological producers, meaning they produce energy in the form of sugar from sunlight.
Diatoms exist as single cells, although some of them flock together in colonies that create some really pretty forms.
Each individual cell is covered in a hardened frustule made from silica.
They are both alike in that they are both protists.
However, dinoflagellates are a part of a group called alveolates. They are most common in marine and freshwater phytoplankton. Some are heterotrophic.
Diatoms, on the other, are a part of a group called stramenopiles. They are unicellular, photosynthetic algae with cell walls that contain silica.
Dinoflagellates are a diverse group of flagellate eukaryotic microorganisms
Dinoflagellates are unicellular, free-swimming, biflagellate organisms
Dinoflagellates have approximately 150 genera and 1500 species.
3. Use your chart to start making a deduction about the cause of the food poisoning. Based on the information you’ve gathered do you feel that the cause of the food poisoning is a diatom or a dinoflagellate? Why?
The dinoflagellate causes illness. A diatom is a very small type of hard shelled plankton. Dinoflagellate sometimes bloom in concentrations of more than a million cells per milliliter. Some species produce neurotoxins, which in such quantities kill fish and accumulate in filter feeders such as shellfish, which in turn may pass them on to people who eat them, which causes food poison.