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What on Earth

are algae?

They’re not animals or plants but they’re definitely alive! Algae are a large group of living things that include seaweeds and plankton. Though they don’t have leaves or roots, many algae are plantlike. They use sunlight to combine carbon dioxide and water to produce food. In the process, they release morę oxygen than all of the worlcTs plants combined!

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197 ft

(60 m) The length of maturę giant kelp—that’s one and a half times the height of an oak tree

1,180 ft

(360 m) How deep in the ocean living algae have been found

7,000+

The number of species of green algae

1,800,000,000

The age in years of the oldest algae fossil

4M<

Green algae

Rangę from green seaweeds, such as this sea lettuce, to freshwater pondweeds, such as blanketweed.

Red algae

Include purple, brown, and black seaweeds, as well as red, such as this coralline red algae.

Brown algae

Colored

greenish-brown, these are mostly large seaweeds and include giant kelp.

Golden algae

Tiny freshwater organisms that make energy from the sunshine but sometimes feed on bacteria.

Diatoms

Have super-thin shells. Some form part of plankton, the mass of tiny organisms that float in the oceans.

Dinoflagellates

Float freely as plankton. They’re easiest to spot at night because some of them glow in the dark.

01: The lichens that grow on rocks and walls are algae and fungi living together. The algae give the fungi food in return for a cozy living environment.

02 ■ The tiny animals that build coral reefs depend on live-in algae called zooxanthellae for food. The algae give coral reefs their color.

03 ■ Some green algae live inside simple animals called sponges, safe from predators. In return, they provide the sponges with oxygen and sugars.

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(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rigbts Reserved.

How to: tura algae Into biofuel

U I ■ Cultivate special oily algae in ponds—just add sunlight and waste carbon dioxide.

Check on

the algae regularly. Add extra nutrients to help them grow.

l/U. Now extract the oil. Crush the algae in a press or add Chemicals that will separate out the oil.

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