At-Home STEM Activities: Ocean Zones
Dreaming of summer trips to the beach? This week we’re exploring different aspects of aquatic systems.
The oceans can be divided into several zones, both vertically and horizontally. Areas near the coast along the continental shelf are in the neretic zone, while those farther out in the open ocean are in the oceanic zone.
Photo courtesy of NOAA
There is only enough light for photosynthesis within the top 200 m of water and light does not make it below 1000 m, making for very different communities of sea creatures as you descend into the oceans. While food webs within the euphotic zone can be based upon phytoplankton, in the aphotic zone energy comes from chemical sources and falling material from above.
In the euphotic zone where sunlight is plentiful, photosynthesis creates energy. Only some sunlight reaches into the dysphotic zone, making photosynthesis impossible most of the time. There is, however, still enough light for visual predators. Most of the creatures in the dysphotic zone are small, but they occur in such abundance that they can support much larger predators. In the aphotic zone, there is no sunlight to provide energy. Matter falling from upper levels or minerals seeping out of hydrothermic vents form the base of food webs, and larger animals take advantage of food resources clustered together in those productive areas.
Photo courtesy of NOAA
Species living in each zone must be adapted to the conditions there. Those living in darker zones may have large eyes or even produce their own light (bioluminescence), while those in the upper, lighter layers may eat food that uses photosynthesis (like plants). Species in the oceanic zone may live in large groups because that helps them find a mate or food resources that are scattered across the oceans. Some animals move between the different zones as they search for food, good habitat, or a mate.
Think you know which animals live where? See if you can match each animal to its zone(s)- remember that a species could use more than one during a day, a year, or even it a lifetime. Answers are here.
