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Ocean
Flip open the pages of this mini-book
to shed light on the layers of the ocean.
Habitat Hallmarks
T
he ocean covers about 71 percent of the earth. The shallow part of the ocean
lies above the continental shelf, which extends from the shoreline to the edge
of each continent. Beyond that, the ocean can be more than six miles deep.
Sunlight reaches to about 492 feet (150 m) beneath the water’s surface. Within
this sunlit zone live one-celled algae that make up the plant plankton. Like plants,
algae make food using energy from the sun. One-celled animals, copepods,
shrimp-like krill, and baby fish make up the animal plankton, which feed on algae.
Plankton serves as food for small fish, basking sharks, and toothless whales. Killer
whales, meat-eating sharks, and other large fish swim in to feast on the millions of
small fish attracted to plankton-rich waters.
Beneath the sunlit zone is the twilight zone, where light is very dim. During
the day, shrimps, small fish, and even some animal plankton might dive there to
hide from predators. As darkness falls, these hiders rise to feed. Somewhere in the
twilight zone a sperm whale might hunt for a giant squid to eat.
Below the twilight zone are the cold waters of the zone of darkness. There, the
only light comes from special body parts on some fish. By flashing light, these fish
can attract a mate or a meal, or scare away a predator. Very few animals live in the
near total darkness, and no plants grow there. Food particles that sink from the
upper zones provide food for these deep-sea dwellers.
Still farther down, chemicals seep out of openings in parts of the deep-sea floor.
Bacteria use these chemicals to make food. The bacteria live inside some deep-sea
creatures, such as tube worms, and share food with them.
Materials
Making the Mini-book
1 Photocopy pages 47–49. Cut out all the pieces
along the thick, solid outer lines.
2 Fold down
piece along the dashed
line, as shown. Fold down the blank part of the
zone of darkness piece along the dashed line.
the ocean
❉ Reproducible pages
47–49
❉ Scissors
❉ Tape
❉ Blue construction
paper or white paper
to be colored
❉ Crayons, colored
pencils, or markers
(optional)
Easy Make & Learn Projects: Animal Habitats © 2010 by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne, Scholastic Teaching Resources
45
Ocean
More to Do
Deep Sea Dive
The Mariana Trench in the
Pacific Ocean is the deepest
part of the sea. Challenge
students to find out about
the trench: where it is,
how people reach it, and
what lives there. Encourage
students to draw maps
and pictures about this
mysterious part of the
planet.
3 Lift
flap and tape the sunlit
on the underside.
the ocean
zone
4Insert the folded
zone of darkness
piece into the ocean piece. Matching
up their folds, tape the two pieces
together, as shown.
5 On the blank page under the
sunlit
zone,
tape the twilight zone text box
and the animal piece for page 2, as
shown.
6Lift page 3. Tape the
deep sea floor
text box on the blank page. Tape the
animal piece for page 4 at the bottom
of the page, as shown.
Resources
I Wonder Why the Sea Is
Salty and Other Questions
About the Oceans by Anita
Ganeri (Kingfisher, 2003).
There’s more to learn about
the ocean than the animals
that live in it. This book
answers basic questions
most students have about
the ocean.
http://www.cybrary.org/
ocean.htm
There’s an oceanful of
information on this site,
ranging from sea life to
waves and tides to the sea
floor to the deep ocean
trenches.
7 Tape the cutout piece with five fish
above the whale on page 2. Tape the
jellyfish to the left of the sunlit zone,
as shown.
8Tape the nautilus with its tentacles
sticking out anywhere on page 3.
9Tape the remaining pieces around
ocean
the
at the top of the book.
Teaching With the Mini-book
Invite students to color, assemble, and read the text on their mini-books.
Then check for understanding by asking them these questions:
1 What are the four zones in the ocean where creatures live? (Sunlit
zone, twilight zone, zone of darkness, deep-sea floor)
2 What makes up plankton? What eats it? (Algae that make food and
one-celled animals make up plankton. It is food for small fish and some
sharks and whales.)
3 Describe the twilight zone. (This part of the ocean is dim because little
sunlight reaches the twilight zone. Some fish hide there. Whales hunt
squids to eat.)
4Where does light come from in the zone of darkness? (Certain fish
give off light to attract animals to eat.)
46
Easy Make & Learn Projects: Animal Habitats © 2010 by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne, Scholastic Teaching Resources
Sperm
whale
2
TWILIGHT ZONE
Very little sunlight reaches down to the twilight
zone. Some small fish dive here to hide during
the day. In the cover of night, they swim up to eat
plankton. In these depths, a hungry sperm whale
might battle with a giant squid in order to eat.
1
47
Easy Make & Learn Projects: Animal Habitats © 2010 by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne, Scholastic Teaching Resources
Swordfish
Tiger shark
Giant squid
c
O
e
a
e
n
h
T
Ocean
Ocean 5 tk
Ocean
Tube worms
Tripod fish
Stomach
eel
DEEP-SEA FLOOR
Anglerfish
Lanternfish
The deep-sea floor is miles below the surface of the
water. Bits of food slowly sink from above. A tripod
fish inches along on its three very long fins. Giant tube
worms sway back and forth. Every year, new kinds of
life are found at the bottom of the ocean.
No sunlight ever reaches the zone of darkness. But
flashes of light might blink from fish, such as anglerfish
and eels. These fish give off light to attract animals into
their large, open jaws. The water temperature stays
very cold this far down in the ocean.
Snipe eel
3
Easy Make & Learn Projects: Animal Habitats © 2010 by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne, Scholastic Teaching Resources
Sea
pen
4
48
ZONE OF DARKNESS
Ocean
SUNLIT ZONE
Nautilus
ish
lyf
el
J
Plankton
Easy Make & Learn Projects: Animal Habitats © 2010 by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne, Scholastic Teaching Resources
In sunlit parts of the ocean, tiny algae use the sun’s
energy to make food. Algae, along with equally tiny
animals, make up plankton. Plankton serves as food
for small fish. In turn, bigger fish prey on the small
fish. The sunlit zone teems with life.
Gull
Sea
turtle
Dolphin
Plan
Mackerels
kto
n
49