WORKSHEET – Slime Mold

ANTICIPATION: BEFORE LISTENING

You will be listening to the audio version of an extract of a video called “This Pulsating Slime Mold Comes in
Peace” and the full audio version of a video called “Can Slime Mold Solve Mazes?”. They are both about
something called Slime Mold.

To prepare for the listening:

1. Define “slime” (use your phone if you need to):
2. The meaning of “Mold”, in this document, is close to “fungus”. Find the adapted definition (use your
phone if you need to):

3. Given the above information, you think slime mold could be from the kingdom of:
a. Monera (ex: bacillus)
b. Protista (ex: amoeba)
c. Fungi (ex: mushrooms)
d. Plantae (ex: any plant)
e. Animalia/Metazoa (ex: any animal or insect etc)

4. Write what you think:

a. The title “This pulsating Slime Mold Comes in Peace” implies that slime mold could be:

b. The title “Can Slime Mold Solve Mazes?” implies that slime mold could be:

Feel free to go back to the information above to fill in what you could not the first time around or use that
information to help with the work below

LISTENING – INSTRUCTIONS: the entire listening comprehension will take about 15 to 20 minutes with the key
To start: You will hear the entire document once. Just relax and see what you can understand. No need to
take notes.
Then: You will hear the document in six sections (Part 1 to Part 6). You will hear each section two times. Try
to give the information in the exercises.
Finally: You will watch the video and check your answers as you listen before going over the key with your
teacher.
Start: Entire document – 3:02 – just listen
Part 1 (00:00 – 01:26) – You will hear the extract from “This pulsating Slime Mold Comes in Peace” 2 times.
Listen and do the listening comprehension exercises below:

Part 1, Listening 1: Read the exercises below for “listening 1” before listening.
Aural discrimination: Read the sentences below. Try to identify the errors before you listen. As you listen,
correct the errors.

On these three rotting trunks, something is alive... Correction: _____________________

They can send up light and produce spores… Correction: _____________________

They’re not a fun guy … Correction: _____________________

They spread a crust on forests… Correction: _____________________

1. Write the end of the sentence:
- Each Slime mold is like
- And it moves in a

Part 1, Listening 2: Read the exercises below for “listening 2” before listening

1. According to the video, the following statements about Slime Mold are TRUE or FALSE
a. Like mushrooms and plants, they produce spores TRUE FALSE
b. They are animals that chase food in forests TRUE FALSE
c. They are not quite liquid and not quite solid TRUE FALSE
d. They cannot go from one place to another TRUE FALSE
e. They eat bacteria and mushrooms TRUE FALSE

2. From this extract you can deduce that Slime Mold is from the kingdom of (see Anticipation):

3. Challenge - you heard the synonym for “frontier” or “limit” and it is:

Part 2 (01:36 – 02:54) – You will hear the next part of the video “Can Slime Mold Solve Mazes?” 2 times.
Listen and do the listening comprehension exercises below:
Part 2, Listening 1: Read the exercises below for “listening 1” before listening

Aural discrimination: Read the sentences below. Try to identify the errors before listening. As you listen,
correct the errors.

…studying a former slime mold… Correction: _____________________

…slime molds of fascinated scientists… Correction: _____________________
… the quickest route through arrays to get at some food… Correction: _____________________
…do more than just prefer more clever tricks… Correction: _____________________

Part 2, Listening 2: Read the exercises below for “listening 2” before listening

a. Write where Dr Mark Frikar works:

b. Dr Mark Frikar works in a team of ________________ and ______________________.
c. TRUE or FALSE: Phycerium Polycephalum are very good at finding their way through a labyrinth to find
food.
TRUE FALSE
Justify in your own words (French or English):
Part 3 (03:03-03:53) – You will hear the next part of the video “Can Slime Mold Solve Mazes?” 2 times.
Listen and do the listening comprehension exercises below:

Part 3, Listening 1 and 2 : Read the exercises below before listening

Fill in the blanks below:

Here, Mark is ______________ an experiment he _________________ with colleagues at

____________________. A blob of slime mold is ____________________ a pattern of oat flakes an

___________________ for the slime mold. What happens next is ___________________ a time-lapse

camera.

Part 4 (04:03 – 04:49) – You will hear the next part of the video “Can Slime Mold Solve Mazes?” 2 times.
Listen and do the listening comprehension exercises below:

Part 4, Listening 1 and 2: Read the exercises below for before listening

Complete this rewritten sequencing of what happens with the slime mold by identifying the verbs:
First, the slime mold ___________ as this blob in the middle

Then it’s going to _____________ and ______________ the whole of the dish

It is trying to ______________ all of the oat flakes that were _______________ earlier

And then the slime mold ________________ each of the food resources

Last, some of those links would ________________ and some would be ________________

Part 5 (04:49 – 06:22) – You will hear the third part of the video “Can Slime Mold Solve Mazes?” 2 times.
Listen and do the listening comprehension exercises below:
Part 5, Listening 1: Read the exercises below for “listening 1” before listening. Choose the correct answers
Aural discrimination: Read the sentences below. Try to identify the errors before listening. As you listen,
correct the errors.
… on the majorities around Tokyo… Correction: _____________________

… not just the slime mold exploring a run-down distribution… Correction: _______________________

… trying to wipe out the region around Tokyo Correction: ______________________

… the slime mold would correct all of those… Correction: ______________________

Part 5, Listening 2: Take notes on what you hear if necessary. Use the notes and what you have heard so far.
With this information in mind, create explanatory legends for the image (using the arrows and boxes below)
and write a paragraph explaining what we see in the image.

Title:

Description :

Part 6 (6:31 to end) – You will hear the third part of the video “Can Slime Mold Solve Mazes?” 2 times.
Listen and do the listening comprehension exercises below:
Part 6, Listening 1 and 2 : Read the exercises below before listening

1. When you compare the ________ Tokyo rail system and the ___________ that the slime molds

come up with, the two ___________ are remarkably __________. In just a few ________ the

slime mold has done what _________ engineers took years to ___________. It has found the

most ___________ way to link __________ multiple locations - every bit as ____________ as

the _________________ Tokyo rail system.

2. TRUE or FALSE: Slime mold has a brain that can calculate how to produce a network very similar to the
Tokyo rail system.
TRUE FALSE
Justify in your own words (French or English):

And to finish… watch the video to verify your answers before looking at the key