A Macroinvertebrate Search

ALDERFLY
AQUATICWORMS
CADDISFLY
CRANEFLY
CRAYFISH
DAMSELFLY
DOBSONFLY
DRAGONFLY
LEECH
MAYFLY
MIDGE
MOSQUITOLARVA
MUSSEL
RIFFLEBEETLE
SALMONFLY
SIDESWIMMER
SNAIL
STONEFLY
WATERPENNY

Macroinvertebrates are a diverse group of animals, ranging from insects and crustaceans to molluscs and worms. They have been around for about 500 million years and some were even living in our waterways before the dinosaurs! Different aquatic macroinvertebrates have different tolerance levels to water pollution. Some water critters are sensitive to pollution, which means if the waterway was to become polluted they will die or move elsewhere. Other critters are tolerant to pollution, meaning they can survive in polluted water. By sampling a waterway for macroinvertebrates and identifying what’s there you will get a good indication of water quality and habitat condition. This word search contains the names of the different kinds of macroinvertebrate one might find in a typical freshwater stream. Good Luck!

Try to find all 19 words on this board.

Q Y D H U W A T E R P E N N Y
C A L Y P S N A I L K R T N I
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A U C R N F Y L F Y A M P C D
L A A I A O N E G D I M U Y H
M T D F L L G O X V U I X L S
O I D F D E O A S U S W V F I
N C I L E E X T R B Q S X L F
F W S E R C A P I D O E I E Y
L O F B F H Z C T U A D K S A
Y R L E L C Y J I J Q I S M R
U M Y E Y L F E N O T S N A C
C S O T M U S S E L F L O D O
B L U L C R A N E F L Y R M N
Q E D E U K A J J T C R D C K
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Answer Key for A Macroinvertebrate Search

X
Y
123456789101112131415
1# Y # # # W A T E R P E N N Y
2# A L Y # S N A I L # R # # #
3S Q V F L # # # # # # E # # #
4A U C R N F Y L F Y A M # # #
5L A A I A O N E G D I M # Y H
6M T D F L L G O # # # I # L S
7O I D F D E O A S # # W # F I
8N C I L E E # T R B # S # L F
9F W S E R C # # I D O E # E Y
10L O F B F H # # # U # D # S A
11Y R L E L # # # # # Q I # M R
12# M Y E Y L F E N O T S # A C
13# S # T M U S S E L # # O D #
14# # # L C R A N E F L Y # M #
15# # # E # # # # # # # # # # #
Word X Y Direction
ALDERFLY  55s
AQUATICWORMS  22s
CADDISFLY  34s
CRANEFLY  514e
CRAYFISH  1512n
DAMSELFLY  1413n
DOBSONFLY  1210nw
DRAGONFLY  109nw
LEECH  66s
MAYFLY  124w
MIDGE  125w
MOSQUITOLARVA  88nw
MUSSEL  513e
RIFFLEBEETLE  44s
SALMONFLY  13s
SIDESWIMMER  1212n
SNAIL  62e
STONEFLY  1212w
WATERPENNY  61e