Study Pack #10

1. Life in the Ocean Study Pack #10

2. Today’s Goals… • I can describe the characteristics of ocean organisms • I can distinguish among producers, consumers, and decomposers

3. Ocean Life • Plankton • Nekton • Bottom Dwellers

4. Plankton • Tiny organisms that float in ocean currents • Examples: • Eggs of ocean animals • Very young fish • Larval jelly fish and crabs • Tiny adults of some organisms • Page 389

5. Nekton • Animals that can actively swim • Often feed on plankton • Examples: • Fish • Whales • Shrimp • Turtles • Squid • Page 390

6. Bottom Dwellers • Live on the ocean bottom • Can burrow into sediments, walk or swim on bottom, or be attached to seafloor • Examples: • Anemones • Crabs • Corals • Snails • Starfish • Some fish

7. Ocean Ecosystem • An ecosystem is a community of organisms and the nonliving factors that affect them • Sunlight, water, nutrients, sediments, gases • Every ecosystem has a: • Producers • Consumers • Decomposers

8. Producers • Base of ecosystem • Organisms that can make their own food • Photosynthesis • Chemosynthesis

9. Consumers • Organisms that eat producers • Depend on producers for survival • Get energy from the producers

10. Decomposers • Digest producers and consumers when they die • Example: bacteria

11. Food Chains • Energy is transferred from producers to consumers to decomposers through food chains