vocabulary: salinity, reef, sulphur, brackish, density

OCEAN ENVIRONMENTSOCEAN ENVIRONMENTSOCEAN ENVIRONMENTSOCEAN ENVIRONMENTSOCEAN ENVIRONMENTS

3D Sea3D Sea3D Sea3D Sea3D Seamain ideas

backgroundinformation

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� The ocean provides a numberof different environments foranimal life.

� Each animal in the ocean hasadapted to its specificenvironment.

Just as Earth�s continents pro-vide a variety of environments foranimals, its oceans also provide avariety of environments. Animallife in the ocean varies dependingon water depth, water tempera-ture, and water conditions: shal-low or deep, warm or icy cold,crystal clear or dark and murky.

Along the shore, animals haveadapted to being exposed to air atlow tide, then covered with wateras the tide rises. Many animals inthis area are encased in hard shellsor tough skins to protect themfrom wave action.

To a depth of about 500 feet,the sun penetrates the water andgreen plants grow. From 500 to1,500 feet deep, there�s only gray-ish light. And below 1,500 feet, theonly light comes from glowingbody parts of some underwatercreatures.

Salinity and oxygen/carbon di-oxide content also divide the oceaninto environments. For example,near coastlines, surface water thatmixes with fresh river water is lessdense than the saltier water itfloats on.

SCENE 1 On the Surface 1:00Cast member Z explains that eventhough oceans may look the same ontop, underneath they are all very diff-erent.

SCENE 2 Ocean Motion :46This musical interlude features a cast ofspectacular swimming and swayingsea-dwelling creatures that show there�salways something going on underwater!

SCENE 3 Ship-Shape Condo 4:00Off Florida�s coast, biologist Jill Yeagershows cast members Todd and Debrawhere coral have been building reefs forthousands of years. Then the kids seehow some marine biologists speed upthe reef building process by sinking oldships for coral to build on and othermarine life to live in.

SCENE 4 Cold Critters 4:30In Antarctica, Debra visits marine biologistsRon Gilmer and Greg Dietzman who studyjellyfish to find out how they survive in sucha cold, icy environment.

SCENE 5 Separate Quarters 1:00Z demonstrates that not all fish live at thesame depth. How? He puts two underseaspecies into water and watches them swimto separate quarters--one near the top andone at the bottom.

SCENE 6 Life Down Under 2:00What�s on the ocean floor? One extremelyweird inhabitant is a 6-foot-long tubewormthat looks like a plant. This fascinating animallives under great pressure, in total darkness,and survives and thrives on bacteria thatlive on sulphur from undersea volcanicvents!

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BEFORE-VIEWINGBEFORE-VIEWINGBEFORE-VIEWINGBEFORE-VIEWINGBEFORE-VIEWINGDISDISDISDISDISCUSCUSCUSCUSCUSSIONSIONSIONSIONSION

Ask students how the ocean differs from a lake, river, orpond. (ocean water salty, pond water muddy, ocean deeper,etc.) If kids left land and headed down under the surface of theocean, what would change? (plant and animal life, temperature,light, pressure, etc.) Point out that there are different environ-ments in the ocean, as there are on land. Just as kids wouldn�texpect cactus to grow in the ice of Antarctica, they shouldn�texpect to find green plants below 1,500 feet of water.

TUNING INTUNING INTUNING INTUNING INTUNING INAsk kids why they think animalslive in different ocean environ-ments. Then have kids watch thevideo to learn about some under-water creatures.

AFTER-VIEWINGAFTER-VIEWINGAFTER-VIEWINGAFTER-VIEWINGAFTER-VIEWINGACTIVITYACTIVITYACTIVITYACTIVITYACTIVITY

MATERIALS:� 2 bottles of soda pop� 2 balloons

The amount of gases (oxygen, carbon dioxide) in wateraffects the nature of life in that water. For example, someanimals live in very cold water that holds more gas thanwarm water does. This demonstration helps to prove thatcold liquids hold more gas than warm ones do.

WHAWHAWHAWHAWHAT TO DOT TO DOT TO DOT TO DOT TO DO:::::1. Use bottles of soda that are the same size and kind. Refrigerate

one for 24 hours�keep it in a cooler until you do the experiment.Keep the other bottle at room temperature.

2. Place 2 labels�Warm and Cold�on a table. Put each bottle onthe proper one. Which do kids think will release more gas whenopened?

3. Remove the caps and quickly place a balloon over the mouth ofeach bottle. Ask why the balloon on the room� temperaturebottle inflated. (Gas from the soda went inside the balloon.)Where is the gas from the cold bottle? (still in the liquid) Whatdoes this suggest about animals that live in very cold water?(They live in water that contains more gas for them to breathe.)

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To let kids discover that salinewater is denser than fresh waterand that living organisms react todifferent levels of salinity inwater.

PURPOSES

MATERIALS:(per 4 students)� 1 fresh spinach leaf� 4 10-oz. clear plastic cups� 2-liter clear plastic soda bottle with label removed and top cut off to make it 20 cm tall� 1 plastic teaspoon� 1 pair scissors� 4 red crayons� 1 metric ruler

(per group�from a central source)� 2-3 drops red food coloring� 12-tsps. table salt� cool tap water

WHAWHAWHAWHAWHAT TO DOT TO DOT TO DOT TO DOT TO DO:::::1. Divide kids into groups of 4, and distribute the

activity sheet, �Salt of the Earth,� to each stu-dent, plus one extra for the group to share. Dis-tribute all other materials except water.

2. Have each group label its bottle as shown onpage 29, then fill the bottle and cups 3/4 full ofwater.

3. Have kids place 3 cups in the circles on theirgroup�s extra activity sheet, then stir 2 tsps. ofsalt into Cup B and 6 tsps. of salt into Cup C.

4. Ask each group to cut its spinach leaf into 3 evenpieces and put I piece in each cup. Let the leavessoak while kids do Part 2 of the experiment.

5. Have groups add 3 drops of red food coloring totheir 4th cup of water, stir in 4 tsps. of salt, slowlypour the salty water into their bottle of fresh wa-ter, then color Trial 1 (Part 2) on the activity sheetto show where the red went.

6. Let kids empty, rinse, and refill the bottles withfresh water, repeat the experiment with 8 tsps. ofsalt in the red water, then color in Trial 2 to showwhere the red went this time.

7. Let groups compare spinach leaves after 20 min-utes and describe them in Part 1 of the activitysheet.

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The Marianas Trench, the deepest spot in the ocean, is10,924 meters deep. How many nautical miles is that? Howmany kilometers? Is it more than 20,000 Leagues Under theSea? Give kids math problems utilizing nautical miles, leagues,and kilometers. Write data at right on board:

Have kids use calculators to find: 1. depth of the MarianasTrench in nautical miles; 2. depth in leagues; 3. how manyfootball-fields deep the trench is; 4. how many Statues of Lib-erty could be stacked in the trench; 5. how many statue fingersdeep the trench is; 6. how many football fields fit in 1 league.(Answers: 1. 5.9 nautical miles; 2. 2.3 leagues 3. 119.4 fields;4. 241.1 statues; 5. 4551.7 fingers; 6. 52.8 fields.)

Marianas Trench depth =Nautical mile =League =Football-field length =Statue of Liberty height =Length of statue�s finger =

Discuss results. Why did the salty water sink in the freshwater? (salty water denser than fresh) What happened to thespinach after 20 minutes in water? (stayed firm in fresh water;got mushy in salt water) What does this suggest about salti-ness and ocean life? (Different living things inhabit salt andfresh water environments because of the physical effects eachenvironment has on them.)

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10,924 m1.852 km4.83 km

91.5 m45.3 m2.4 m

Name:

Date:

Part 1Place cups on circles for 20 minutes.

Describe spinach in each cup after 20 minutes.

A.

B.

C.

Part 2Color to show where thered-colored water is inthe 2-liter bottle.

20 cm 20 cm.......... ..........

..........15 cm 15 cm

10 cm 10 cm

5 cm 5 cm

0 cm 0 cm

..........

.......... ..........

....................

.......... ..........

Trial 1Moderately Salty

(4 tsp. salt)

Trial 2Very Salty(8 tsp. salt)

3-2-1 CLASSROOM CONTACT© 1993 Children�s Television Workshop

TM

Fresh Water(no salt)

Brakish Water(2 tsp. salt) Salty Water

(6tsp. salt)

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