Zones of the Ocean

It’s all just one big ocean!

Oceans have a structure

Sunlight or surface zone

Twilight or transition zone

Midnight or deep zone

Photic (light) ocean zones

Legend:Brown – landYellow – sunlight zoneOrange – twilight zoneBlue – midnight zone

INTERTIDAL ZONE

INTERTIDAL ZONE

NERITIC ZONE

INTERTIDAL ZONE

NERITIC ZONE

INTERTIDAL ZONE

NERITIC ZONE

OCEANIC ZONE

INTERTIDAL ZONE

NERITIC ZONE

OCEANIC ZONE

BENTHIC ZONE

INTERTIDAL ZONE – from high tide line to low tide line

• Pounding waves

• Changes in temperature

• Changes in salinity

• Underwater & exposed to air

• Aerial predators

• Little food

NERITIC ZONE – low tide line to continental slope

• More life than any other zone

• Major fishing grounds

• Sunlight

• Nutrients from land and benthic zone (floor)

NERITIC ZONE

SUNLIGHT & NUTRIENTS:

–Allows phytoplankton (plants) to grow

–Supports large number of zooplankton (animals)

–Plankton is the basis of Ocean Food Webs

OCEANIC ZONE – from continental slope to continental slope

• Less sunlight & nutrients than Neritic Zone

• Supports fewer organisms

• Organisms are very different because of changes in water as depth increases.

BENTHIC ZONE – the ocean floor

• Deepest parts get no sunlight & is very cold

• Many organisms get food from material that sinks down from above

• Some organisms get energy from chemicals (chemosynthesis) that come from Hydrothermal Vents.

Hydrothermal Vents - Geysers on the sea floor

• Spew out super hot, mineral-rich water.

• Most are found along mid-ocean ridges.

• Habitats to bacteria who feed on sulfur and methane – chemosynthesis – the basis of the benthic food web.

• Organisms who live in these extreme conditions are called extremophiles.

Giant Tubeworms

• 8 feet long, 4 inches wide

• No mouth• No digestive system• Live on hydrothermal

vents• Live where water is

boiling and freezing.

Seeps

• Type of vent that is lower in temperature than a hydrothermal vent.

• Release chemicals like methane, hydrogen sulfide, salts

• Supports diverse life

Ocean zones foldable

• 2-day project– Day 1: classroom – build your foldable; explore the

classroom resources and write some notes; decorate your front page.

– Day 2: computer lab – create a login to TED Ed lessons, view the Deep Ocean Mysteries and Wonders lesson, and complete your foldable.

• The Dig Deeper tab lists links on which you will explore several kinds of aquatic organisms that need to be added to your foldable.

Ocean zones foldable

• 4 Foldable tabs: – 1. intertidal zone– 2. neritic zone– 3. oceanic zone– 4. benthic zone

• Each page has these 4 sections: – 1. Location– 2. Description of conditions (2-3 sentences)– 3. Examples of organisms and their adaptations

(2-3 organisms). – 4. A drawing of an organism and its name

Ocean zones foldable rubric

• Creativity (5 pts) – Has color– Shows that student invested time and used it wisely

• Organization and completion (10 pts)– All sections are present on each page– Pages are well organized and neat

• Correctness (10 pts)– All information is correct– Information presented shows that a student

understands the material

• Total point possible: 25