Grades 5–6
Informational, Narrative, STEMWritingLives with: Horseshoe crab & Scenedesmus
Latin name: Ulva lactuca
Description
Sea Lettuce is slimy with bright green leaves that are about seven inches in length and twelve inches in diameter. It looks a lot like the lettuce we eat.
Lifespan
Sea Lettuce only lives for about three months.
Season
Sea Lettuce grows any time of the year.
Habitat
Sea Lettuce lives at all levels of the shore, particularly rockier beaches. It lives almost all around the world.
Reproduction
Sea Lettuce reproduces through parthenogenesis – the splitting of cells.
Predators
Sea slugs and manatees like to snack on it.
Interesting facts
When it decomposes, sea lettuce releases toxic gas called hydrogen sulfide. It reproduces quickly and can overpopulate its environment.
Personality traits
My plant is lazy, gassy, uncomfortable most of the time, and grumpy.
Physical traits
He is curly and slimy. He is not attractive. No one really likes him because he sasses people off with poisonous gas.
Life at home
He spends his time mostly alone. He doesn’t have any siblings, and if he did, he’d ignore them.
The Sea Lettuce sits in bed and watches TV, going through season after season of “How I Reproduce Myself.” He pretends to sneeze and releases hydrogen sulfide. He is good at skipping school. The Sea Lettuce is on episode 273 when his mom smashes into the room with a bowl of sea slime. “Here, Sonny.” She hands him the crab shell bowl. He grabs the bowl and says thank you. Usually when his mom finds out about his devious scheme, he has to go to school. Most of the kids in the class dislike him because he’s slimy, grumpy, and smelly. And he doesn’t like them either. No one really likes him in school, and he’s okay with that. He doesn’t like class. He doesn’t like anything in school. He doesn’t like school in general. His favorite subject is dismissal. His life is sad. So sad, all he wants to do is sit and watch “How I Reproduce Myself.” He’s happy when he watches that. All he likes to do is watch TV and sleep. Does he dream? He dreams. He dreams about sleeping. That is a peek into the life of the grumpy, slimy, sad Sea Lettuce.
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by Rebecca Darugar, 826NYC
by Rebecca Darugar, 826NYC
Students investigate the plant life that grows within their community and then select a specific species to learn about in-depth…
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Ms. Lowe’s Fourth Grade Class at Roberto Clemente Learning Academy in Detroit, Michigan
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