Ocean Life SOL 5.6 The Continental Shelf

Review There are 4 zones in the ocean. Continental Shelf Continental Slope Continental Rise Ocean Basin ( Abysmal Plain )

Here they are!

Virginia’s Coast Virginia’s Continental Shelf is very large! YOU

LIFE! Life on Earth is amazing. It fills every corner of the planet. The oceans are no different!

Reminder Just like on land, the ocean has producers and consumers. ALL energy ( food ) starts with and comes from the SUN.

How does that work? On land and the ocean, plants use a process called photosynthesis to produce food. They convert sunlight into energy they can use, like sugar. Photosynthesis means to create ( synthesis ) from light ( photo ) Plants do not have to be big! In fact, most plants are microscopic. They are small, single celled organisms.

How does a food chain work? A food chain is a simple, linear way to show how energy is passed along to living things. For example: Plant  Bunny  Fox In your notes, think of three simple food chains a write them down!

So what is a Food Web? A food web is more complex! It is a series of many food chains! It can be very complicated.

Ocean Food Web

Producers and Predators At the bottom of ALL ocean food webs is a tiny, single celled organism called plankton. Many animals eat plankton and in turn are eaten by other animals all the way up the chain until you get to the top. On top is the alpha predator. ALL ocean environments have plankton and ALL have an alpha predator.

Continental Shelf Most of the fish and ocean animals we know come from the continental shelf. Remember, we’ve only explored about 3% of the ocean!