1. Ecosystem Snapshot: Oceans
Most of Earth is covered by water. Oceans take up 70%, or about ¾, of the world’s surface area. The major oceans are: the Pacific, Atlantic, Southern, Indian, and Arctic.

2. Featured Population: sharks
There are over 400 different species of sharks living in the seas and oceans on Earth. Sharks have adapted to living in a wide range of aquatic habitats at various temperatures. While some species inhabit shallow, coastal regions, others live in deep waters, ocean floors, and the open ocean. Sharks are among the top predators of the ocean and have amazing adaptations to help them survive in the vast oceans.

3. Animal FACTS Adaptations – Shark skin is made up of scales.
All sharks have multiple rows of teeth. While they lose teeth on a regular basis, new teeth continue to grow, replacing those that they lose. Sharks lose up to 30,000 teeth in their lifetime.
Sharks use body coloration as camouflage.
Shark ‘skin’ is made up of a series of scales, or denticles, that act as an outer skeleton. The denticles, along with the shark’s aerodynamically shaped body, help the shark to save energy in the water. The upper side of a shark is generally dark to blend in with the water from above, and their undersides are white or lighter colored, to blend in with the lighter surface of the sea from below. This helps to camouflage them from predators and prey.

4. SHARKS: BASIC NEEDS Basic Needs air water shelter food Shelter/Habitat
sharks continually move around the oceans and find shelter when needed
Food
fish
crustaceans
marine mammals
mollusks
FOOD: A shark’s diet depends on the species, but most species of shark eat things like fish, crustaceans, mollusks, plankton, krill, marine mammals, and other sharks.
Most sharks are especially active in the evening and night when they hunt. Some sharks migrate over great distances to feed and breed.
SHELTER: Sharks are continually on the move and find shelter only if needed in underground caves, rocks, or other features.

5. The OCEAN Community mackerel whales crab squid shrimp tuna
The Animal Community of the Ocean:
Marine ecosystems are a part of the largest aquatic system on the planet. Marine ecosystems are home to a host of different species, ranging from tiny planktonic organisms to large marine mammals like the whales, manatees, and seals. In addition, many fish species reside in marine ecosystems including flounder, scup, sea bass, monkfish, squid, mackerel, butterfish, and spiny dogfish.
Birds are also plentiful including shorebirds, gulls, wading birds, and terns.
squid
shrimp
tuna

6. The ocean Ecosystem
Have students observe the pictures. What do they notice about the pictures? Are there similarities? What are the differences? Have students justify their thinking.

7. The ocean Ecosystem
Most of the ocean’s organisms live in the sunlit zone.
The average depth of the ocean is 2–3 miles. In some places, the ocean is deeper than the tallest mountains on Earth are high!
The ocean contains about 97% of all of the water on Earth.
The sunlit zone is the top part of the ocean and the area that receives the most sunlight. This zone goes from the surface to about 600 feet (roughly 200 meters) underwater. Help children understand that even though the sunlit zone is the smallest zone in the ocean, it actually supports about 90% of all marine life.

8. The photos are courtesy of clip art.
Photo Credits
The photos are courtesy of clip art.