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Name: ________________________________________ Homeroom: ____________
Chapter 9 – The Water Planet
Important Terms
__________________ - an area in which living things interact with one another and
nonliving things.
_________________ - the layers of air that surround earth
Essential Question: What is the Water Cycle?
The Water Cycle
_______________ of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. Earth’s water is
continuously being _______________________. In a process known as the water
cycle, water moves ________________, ________________, and ________________
the Earth’s crust and ecosystems. Energy from the _____________ powers the water
cycle.
Most of the Earth’s water is found in the __________________. The sun
___________ the surface of the ocean, thus causing water to __________________.
Evaporation is the process of ______________ water changing to water ___________.
Water vapor ________________ high into the air and ________________. If the water
vapor cools enough, it will ___________________. Condensation is the process in
which water _________________ changes into __________________ water. When
water vapor condenses in the ___________________, clouds form. The condensed
water drops __________________ and grow _________________. The drops
eventually become too ________________ to remain in the clouds and fall as
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_________________________. Precipitation is solid or liquid water that falls from
___________ to ___________________. ____________, ________________,
_____________, and _________________ are forms of precipitation.
Most precipitation falls back in the ______________. The precipitation that lands
on the ground can run off the surface, or can _______________ into the ground. Some
of the water recycles back into the atmosphere through the process of plants releasing
water _______________ into the air through their leaves. The rest of the water in the
____________ slowly runs down through gaps and pores in __________, known as
_______________________.
The Water Cycle
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Sources of Fresh Water
Our body is made up of 60% to 75% ________________, about 10 ____________
of water. ________________ water is essential for people and many other organisms to
survive. Fresh water has a very low ___________ content. Only about 3% of all the
water on ______________ is fresh water.
Over three-fourths of the __________________________ on earth, 75%, can not
be used because it is ___________________ in ice caps and glaciers near Earth’s poles.
Almost all of the rest of the Earth’s fresh water is ________________________. In order
to get to the groundwater people dig _______________ and pump the water up to the
surface. Only 0.5% of all the freshwater on Earth is in the _________, ______________,
_________________, and ____________________ lakes.
__________________ are what make salt water salty. When water ___________
from the ocean, the __________________ are left behind, thus freshwater can formed
from salt water in the ocean.
Preserving Our Water Resources
Water is one of our most important _____________________________, not only
because people use freshwater everyday, but also because people use saltwater
organisms as a source of _____________. _________________________ is our richest
source of freshwater.
Most of the Earth’s water is already ____________________; therefore it must be
_______________ before people can use it.
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Essential Question: What are the Characteristics of the Ocean?
The Ocean Floor
The ocean floor varies just as the land above water. There are towering
_____________, deep _______________, wide ________________ and other features
on the ocean floor. However the ocean floor is divided into _________ major regions.
The continental shelf is the ________________ region. The continental shelf is
a slowly ______________ portion of the ocean floor made up of continental crust.
When we walk into the ocean at the beach we are walking on the _________________.
The continental shelf comes to an end at the edge of the continental slope. The
continental slope is a _______________ between continental ____________ and
oceanic ____________. Parts of the continental slope are much steeper than others,
thus dropping down to the deep-ocean floor.
At the end of the continental slope the ocean floor slowly ______________ out
into the abyssal plain. The abyssal plain is the vast floor of the __________ ocean
and covers almost ____________ of the earth’s surface. The abyssal plain is covered
by a thick layer of __________________, thus making it the _______________ place
on Earth. Nevertheless some of the Earth’s highest ___________________ and
deepest _________________ lie beneath the ocean’s surface. These landforms are
along the _______________________________________, where plates are pulled
_______________ and _________________ rock pushes up from below.
How Oceans Affect Climate
Nearly ______________________ of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans,
therefore ______________ have important effects on Earth’s climate. Without oceans
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Earth’s _____________ would be too harsh to support life. It takes water longer to
_________ up and ___________ down than it does ____________, therefore the land
can stay _________________ in the summer and ____________________ in the
winter, thanks to help of the oceans.
Winds are formed by the differences in ____________ and _____________
temperatures. A sea breeze takes place during the __________ when the cool air from
the ______________ moves toward the land and the warm air over the land
__________. A land breeze takes place at _____________ when the warm air over
the __________ cools and the ____________ land air takes its place.
The ocean flows in a steady, stream like movement known as a _____________.
There are three types of currents:
________________________ - produced by global winds and move in regular patterns
________________________ - (Gulf Stream) begins in tropical regions carrying warm
water from the Caribbean Sea across the North Atlantic to Europe
________________________ - (California Current) form near the poles and flow toward
the equator, helping warm climates cool down
Ocean Resources
Although people do not drink saltwater, they still rely on its _________________.
In desalination plants the _____________ and other minerals are removed from
saltwater therefore freshwater is created. Saltwater _______________ are a major
source of _____________ and are gathered and removed from the ocean. Other
marine organisms are gathered for ______________________ products.
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Saltwater is also a source of ________________, which is used for many things
including cooking and agriculture. The ocean is also mined for resources, such as
petroleum, which is a _____________________________. The ____________ that
covers the ocean floor also has its uses, such as making concrete.
Essential Question: What Lives in the Ocean?
Earth’s oceans contain the world’s ______________ animals. The ocean has
many _________________, each existing in a major ocean ____________. Each
ocean zone is a _____________ of the ocean that has unique types of plants and
animal communities. Ocean zones are determined by the ______________ of the
water.
Intertidal Zones
As depth ______________, light ______________. The most shallow and
______________ ocean zone is the intertidal zone. The intertidal zone is the area of
the ocean between the _________ tide and __________ tide. The _______________
of the intertidal zone is always changing; therefore organisms in the intertidal zone must
be able to handle _____________ in their surroundings. At low tide some find shelter
from the ____________, while they are pounded by waves as the tide returns.
How do some intertidal organisms handle the changes? (list at least 3)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
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Near-Shore and Open-Ocean Zones
Moving toward the sea from the intertidal zone, you enter the _______________.
The near-shore zone includes most of the ocean over the __________________ shelf,
where the water gets no deeper than about _______ feet. The relatively shallow, near
shore zone gets a lot of __________________ and has a much more stable
_________________, than the intertidal zone; therefore it is swarming with life.
List several organisms that live in the near shore zone.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Past the continental shelf, and farther out to sea than the near-shore zone you
enter the _____________________ zone. The open-ocean zone includes most of the
water over the continental slope and ___________________________. Most of the
animals that here live near the _____________. The _______________ of the openocean zone makes ___________ near the surface limited. As a result many organisms
are active _________________, swimming long distances to get ____________.
List several organisms that live in the open-ocean zone.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
As depth increases food becomes even more _____________. The extreme
____________ means that organisms that rely on __________________ can not live
there. The ________________ from the water above also makes it difficult for life; at
this depth of 3,300 feet most organisms with ______________ would be crushed. This
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deep region makes up _________ percent of the all the oceans and can be compared
to the barest desert on land. Most of this open-ocean zone is cold, ______________,
and ____________.
Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are formed by _______________ animals called corals, which live in
shallow, sunlit, near-shore ocean waters. Coral reefs are some of the _____________
structures on Earth built by ___________ organisms. Although they are large they are
very fragile and can be _______________ easily.
Forming a reef is a ___________ process. The corals that make up the reef use
_______________ dissolved in ocean water to form __________ outer skeletons. The
___________ corals then attach to the skeletons of the dead corals and ever so slowly
a reef forms.
List several uses of coral reefs.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Deep-Ocean Vents
Ecosystems that lie more than 3,300 feet beneath the ocean surface do not use
sunlight as their energy source, but rather get _____________ from chemical reactions.
On some parts of the ocean floor _______________ vents spew water heated to
around 662F. This extremely _________ water contains dissolved sulfur- and ironbased chemicals. Certain _________________ use these chemicals, rather than
sunlight to produce and ___________ energy.