LIFE IN THE OCEAN There are 3 groups of ocean life: 1.PLANKTON — microscopic floaters like phytoplankton 2. NEKTON — free swimmers like fish, whales and sharks 3.BENTHOS— bottom feeders that live in the sand, like clams and crabs

PLANKTON PHYTOPLANKTON ZOOPLANKTON

NEKTON Squid Whales SharkFish

BENTHIC ORGANISMS Starfish Cluster Shrimp Sea Cucumber Lobster Coral Hermit Crab

LIFE IN THE OCEAN There are 3 groups of ocean life: 1.PLANKTON — floaters 2.NEKTON — free swimmers 3.BENTHOS— live on the bottom

OCEAN WAVES WHAT IS AN OCEAN WAVE? the transfer of wind energy to water Waves are caused by: 1. Wind

2. Undersea earthquakes The largest recorded tsunami was a wave 1720 feet tall in Lituya Bay, Alaska- happened in 1958 Height of Empire State Building 1250 feet

Parts of a Wave: The highest part of the wave is called the crest. The lowest part of the wave is called the trough. The wave-height is the vertical distance from the crest to the trough.

The wavelength is the horizontal distance between the crest of one wave and the crest of the next wave. The wave period is the time it takes for two consecutive wave crests (one after the other) to pass a fixed point. Wave period is used to classify waves.

OCEAN TIDES WHAT IS A TIDE? The daily rise and fall of sea level due to the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun  The bulging blue (A & C) represents high tide  The tiny blue at the poles represents low tide

THE TIDAL CYCLE The time between one low tide and one high tide is about 12 hours and 25 minutes Example: Low tide is 8 AM then High tide will be 12 hours and 25 minutes later at 8:25 PM The daily tidal cycle takes 24 hours and 50 minutes Therefore, most coastlines experience two high tides and two low tides in one day

YES…high tides are highest at a certain time of the month and low tides are lowest at a certain time of the month… WHY? THE SUN-MOON-EARTH SYSTEM The sun can strengthen the Moon’s effects Does the sun’s gravitational pull on the earth affect tides?

SPRING TIDE occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are in a straight line: new and full moon this is when the highest tides are the highest and the lowest tides are the lowest

NEAP TIDE  occurs when the moon is at a ninety angle (1 st & 3 rd quarter) to the Earth  high tides aren’t real high and low tides aren’t real low

SPRING OR NEAP TIDE SpringNeap Spring

AMAZING EARTH SCIENCE FACTS We have _________tides and _________tides a day Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the __________and the____________ 2 high2 low moonsun