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Chapter 9: The Water Planet
Lesson 3: What Lives in the Ocean? (pp 434-445)
Discussion Questions
Directions: Be sure to answer each question in complete sentences, unless
otherwise indicated. Be sure to restate the question in your response.
1. The inter-tidal zone is important to land-dwelling animals. Explain why this is a
true statement. ____Many land dwelling animals feed on organisms that live in the
intertidal zone____________________________________________
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2. Using the small picture on page 439, identify the sea creatures in the photo.
_Two different colored starfish and anemones_________________
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3. How do organisms survive low-tide conditions in an inter-tidal zone? To stay wet
and cool during low tide, some bury themselves in the sand or hide under rocks
(sand dollars, crabs). Others close their shells. (mussels, clams,snails)
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4. Which organisms are the primary producers in most ocean ecosystems? Plankton,
which consists of microscopic organisms that make their own food through
photosynthesis.
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5. How does the environment of the inter-tidal zone differ during high tide and low
tide? During high tide, it is covered with seawater. During low tide, it is dry. There
are places with depressions that are filled with water and organisms.
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6. Why do most of the animals living in the open-ocean zone live near the surface?
___because light penetrates and plankton can carry on photosynthesis, food is
abundant near the surface.
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7. How do you think organisms deep below the surface in the open-ocean zone get
food?_They feed on organisms from the surface that have sunk or swum to lower
levels.
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8. What are three differences between the near-shore zone and the open-ocean
zone? The near shore zone is the area of the ocean over the continental shelf.
Light penetrates throughout; many producers and animals live there. The openocean zone is over the continental slope and the abyssal plain. It has many
swimming animals, but its producers live only near the surface, and it becomes much
darker as depth increases.
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9. Which ocean zone are coral reefs found in? ___________________________
The near-shore zone__________________________________________
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10. How are coral reefs and inter-tidal zones alike? Both have salt water and hard
surfaces.
11. How are they different?
_ the reef is always under water, the water level in the inter-tidal-zone changes
with the tides. There are different types and amounts of organisms.
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12. Contrast a coral reef with the deep ocean. Corals reefs are found in warm,
shallow, sunny environments that are full of life. Deep –ocean environments are
cold, deep and dark.
13. Where are deep-ocean vent ecosystems found? _on the abyssal plain and along
the mid-ocean ridges.
14. How are coral reefs and the vent ecosystems alike? Both are in ocean
environments; both support animal life.
15. What four environmental factors are different in the two ecosystems? _____
depth, temperature, pressure, light
16. How do deep-ocean vent ecosystems differ from all other known ecosystems?
Organisms in deep-ocean vent ecosystems get their energy from sulfur and iron
based chemicals, rather than from sunlight.