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Dolphin
Watch
Nature Tours
Port Aransas
Texas 78373
Local:
(361) 749-6969
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Dolphin
Watch and Nature Tours
Educational
Resources for Teachers and Schools
Plankton
(Coulombe, 1992) |
This
section is designed to aid the teachers
in fulfilling the following TEKS knowledge
and skills requirements.
Grade K -
112.2 (9)(A)(B)
Grade
1 - 112.3 (9)(A)(B)
Grade 2 – 112.4 (5)(A)
Grade 3 - 112.5 (5)(A)
Grade 4 - 112.6 (5)(A)(B)
Grade 5 - 112.7 (5)(A)(B)
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"The Food Cycle“
- "As far as we know, nearly all life in
the ocean is dependent on plants. Only plants
have the ability to manufacture food out of
inorganic substances” (Coulombre, 1992)
- Plants are the producers and the first link
in the food chain.
- Animals in turn eat the producers and are
considered to be consumers. Animals also eat
animals as you go higher up on the food chain.
- Eventually all creatures die and sinks to
the bottom of the ocean.
- The body is eaten by scavengers and bacteria.
The bacteria breaks down the carcass back into
inorganic nutrients that rise to the surface.
- The cycle starts over again with the producers..
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Marine life can be divided into 3 categories,
based on what level of the ocean they live in.
Plankton –
Small floating or free swimming organisms that live
in the water (phytoplankton, zooplankton).
Nekton –
Strong swimming animals that live in open water
(dolphins, whales).
Benthos
– Organisms that live on or near the bottom
of the ocean (seaweed, crabs). |
- Plankton may be unicellular or multicellular
plants and animals. One characteristic they
all share is an inability to swim faster than
one knot. Thus they are at the mercy of even
moderate current. (Fotheringham and Brunenmeister,
1989).
- Most of the organic matter found in the ocean
is classified as plankton. Plankton is at the
base of the food chain and is almost all other
marine life depends on it as a food source.
Plankton is classified into Phytoplankton
(plant plankton) and Zooplankton
(animal plankton).
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