Life in Oceans
Sci 7.4
Plankton:
• drift with current
• includes smallest organisms
• many are single celled
Question 1
1a. Which appeared first in Earth’s
oceans? Plankton, fish, whales,
penguins
1b. Are some plankton big enough to
see without a microscope? Y/N
• Phytoplankton – plant like
coccolithophores
dinoflagellates
Question 2
2a. If planktos is Greek for wanderer,
phyton is probably Greek for what?
Plant, animal, rock, paper, scissors
2b. In which layer of the ocean will you
find the most phytoplanton? Deepest
parts, middle depths, near the surface
• Zooplankton – animal and animal like
Question 3
3a. If the Greek word “phyton” means plant,
the Greek word “zoon” means what?
Animal, plant, current, wanderer
3b. Plankton’s horizontal position in the
oceans is primarily determined by what?
Currents, temperature, salinity, predators
Nekton:
• Animals that actively swim
• Ex: fish, whales, turtles, etc…
Question 4
4a. The main thing that determines
where nekton travel is: where they
swim to, currents
4b. Which of the following are
plankton? Fish, clams, sponges,
jellyfish
Benthos:
• Bottom dwellers
• Ex: crabs, snails, flounder,
corals, etc…
Question 5
5a. Plankton, nekton, and benthos are the 3
major _______ in the oceans. groups of
organisms, types of fish, kinds of
environments
5b. Which character is technically nekton?
Spongebob, Mr. Crab, Plankton, Squidward,
Gary
Ecosystem:
• Community of organisms (producers,
consumers, decomposers) and the nonliving
factors that affect them
Ex:
Oak tree
ecosystem
Question 6
6a. Some living things do not live in
ecosystems. T/F
6b. An ecosystem includes: plants,
animals, fungi, bacteria, all of the above
•
•
•
•
Producers:
Base of all ecosystems
Make their own food
Photosynthesis with light
Chemosynthesis without
Question 7
7a. If “synthesis” means “to make”, then
“photo” means what? Light, food,
chlorophyll, ecosystem
7b. Tube worms live at great depths off of
bacteria that make food using which
process? Photosynthesis, chemosynthesis
Consumers:
• Eat the producers
• Other consumers eat them
Question 8
8a. Primary consumers get their energy
directly from where? The sun,
producers
8b. Which one is a secondary
consumer? Phytoplanton, sharks, algae
eating parrot fish
Decomposers:
• Bacteria and fungi mainly
• Release nutrients and CO2 back into ecosystem
Marine ecosystem
Terrestrial ecosystem
Question 9
9a. Decomposers provide what useful
service for an ecosystem? Trap CO2, make
nutrients available to producers, provide
food to consumers
9b. In a marine ecosystem, decomposers are
found only in the benthic layer (ocean
floor). T/F
Food chains:
energy transfer:
producers
consumers
decomposers
Question 10
10a. The source of almost all energy for
living things on earth is what? The oceans,
the sun, geothermal vents
10b. Which is the first to capture the
energy that all living things need?
Producers, consumers, decomposers
Food web:
• Network of interconnected food
chains
• Most species eat more than one other
species
Whale shark
Question 11
11a. What’s the difference between a food
chain and a food web? A food chain only
involves animals, a food web is more
complicated, a food chain starts with
phytoplankton, a food web contains more than
one species
11b. The base of a food web in the ocean is
usually what? Small fish, algae,
phytoplankton, sharks, whales
Question 12
12a. What’s the largest living species of
fish? Humpback whale, blue whale,
whale shark
12b. What do whale sharks eat? Anything
they want, plankton and krill, fish, seals
Nutrients are recycled
Ex: carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle
nutrient transfer: producers
consumers
decomposers
Aquarium nitrogen cycle
Question 13
13a. Consumers get both energy and nutrients
directly from where? The sun, producers,
decomposers
13b. Producers get their energy from the sun,
and their nutrients from where: the sun,
consumers, decomposers