Life in the Marine Ecosystem: Up Close and Personal
Pre-site Activities/Teacher
Led
Grade Level: 5
Content
Area: Science
Time to Complete: 1 to 2
class periods
Title of Lesson:
Life in the Marine Ecosystem: Up Close
and Personal
South Carolina State Standards
Addressed:
|
II.B.1.a. |
Define a population. |
|
II.B.1.b. |
Investigate and
understand how plants
and animals in
aquatic/terrestrial
ecosystems interact with
one another and with the
non-living environment. |
|
II.B.2.a. |
Distinguish among the
roles organisms serve in
a food web (producers,
decomposers, consumers). |
|
II.B.2.b. |
Describe an organism by
its niche in an
ecosystem. |
|
II.B.3.a. |
Recognize that energy
passes from organism to
organism in food webs. |
|
II.B.3.b. |
Diagram how energy flows
through food webs. |
Lesson Description:
The
following activity was designed to familiarize the students with the basic
concept of the marine ecosystem and its food web.
Focus Question For Students:
|
1. |
Compare characteristics common
to producers, consumers, and
decomposers. |
|
2. |
Discuss the energy flow through
the food chain. |
|
3. |
Create food chains that overlap. |
|
4.
|
Describe a population in the
marine ecosystem. |
Culminating Assessment:
See
Post-site
Activities
Material/Equipment/Resources:
| pictures of producers, consumers,
and decomposers |
| handouts of a
marine food web |
| (the park will supply these) |
Teacher Preparation:
Complete steps in "Plan Your Discovery"
and complete the pre-site activity prior to the field trip (an on-site visit
with a naturalist at the park can be arranged to go over the activity if
desired). Read the background information.
Background Information:
Components of the Marine Ecosystem
An
ecosystem can be defined as an area of interacting forces or components.
The air, with 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, 0.03% carbon dioxide, and some inert
gases plus the soil, which is the source of minerals such as nitrogen, zinc,
calcium, phosphorous, and others, make up the physical component.
Producers, organisms that make their own food, are another component.
Producers, also called autotrophs, in the marine ecosystem include
microscope plants known as phytoplankton. Phytoplankton is composed of
billions of single celled green algae, which produce a vast quantity of food
by means of photosynthesis just as land plants do. Other producers in
the marine environment include plants such as saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina
alternaflora).
Consumers (heterotrophs) are those organisms that are dependant on other
organisms for their food. Primary consumers, herbivores eat
phytoplankton or plants such as Spartina. Primary consumers can be
very small like protozoa or brine shrimp or very large like the Green Sea
Turtle. Carnivores are consumers that feed on the herbivores.
Some consumers feed on both herbivores and smaller carnivores. These
are called omnivores.
Decomposers form another important part of the marine ecosystem.
The decomposers- bacteria and fungi- break down plant and animal remains and
return them to the environment in forms that can be consumed as food by
other organisms. Decomposed material is known as detritus and
sometimes appears as a soupy looking material in the water.
Procedures:
|
1. |
After handing out copies of the marine food web to each student,
the teacher will explain the basic concepts of an ecosystem and
a food web. |
|
2. |
The students will discuss what could happen if one or more of
the components are removed. |
|
3. |
The students will then take the pictures provided by the park
and try to create their own food chains. |
|
4. |
From there they will create food webs. |
| 
