Ocean Zones
Cut and Paste Activity
At first, many students see the ocean as one, big, homogenous ecosystem. In reality, there is are tremendous differences in the life and non-living factors in each of the ocean zones. In this activity, students will be given a basic diagram of the ocean and label each of the three layers: photic, dysphotic, and aphotic. They will also label the continental shelf and intertidal zone. Next, they use colored pencils to shade in each of the three light zones to visually demonstrate the differences in sunlight penetration. Finally, they are provided with a page of organism cutouts, each of which has a clue to where that species should be placed.
Essential concepts: Ocean zones, continental shelf, sea floor, lesson plan, aphotic, dysphotic, photic, midnight, twilight, daylight, benthic, pelagic, coastal, intertidal.
