Vocabulary
Salinity – has a salt content greater than 1%. It is determined by the saltiness or dissolved salt context.
Plankton – organisms that live in water columns and drift because they lack the capability to swim. They are an important food source for whales and small fish.
Nekton – aquatic animals that are able to swim and move independently of water currents
Benthos – a community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed (benthic zone).
Littoral Zone – the region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean
Benthic Zone – the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water
Eutrophication – excessive richness of nutrients
River Source –
River Course –
River Mouth –
Marsh – a wetland with a lot of herbaceous
Swamp – a forested wetland
Bog – a wetland that is a carbon sink for dead plant material
Lagoon- a low leveled body of water separated from a larger body of water
Estuary –
Abundance – too much of something
Diversity – having different elements to something
Watershed - carries water shed from the land after rainfalls and snow melts
Hydrophytes- a plant that grows only in or on water
Halophytes- a plant adapted to growing in saline conditions
Plankton – organisms that live in water columns and drift because they lack the capability to swim. They are an important food source for whales and small fish.
Nekton – aquatic animals that are able to swim and move independently of water currents
Benthos – a community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed (benthic zone).
Littoral Zone – the region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean
Benthic Zone – the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water
Eutrophication – excessive richness of nutrients
River Source –
River Course –
River Mouth –
Marsh – a wetland with a lot of herbaceous
Swamp – a forested wetland
Bog – a wetland that is a carbon sink for dead plant material
Lagoon- a low leveled body of water separated from a larger body of water
Estuary –
Abundance – too much of something
Diversity – having different elements to something
Watershed - carries water shed from the land after rainfalls and snow melts
Hydrophytes- a plant that grows only in or on water
Halophytes- a plant adapted to growing in saline conditions
Critical Thinking
1. What are the three important benefits (ecosystem service) provided by wetlands?
Marshes, swamps, and bogs. All three create a variety of plant life
2. What causes high and low tides? Explain.
By gravitational pull of the moon and sun and the rotation of the earth
3. Where would you find an estuary? What type of organisms would you expect to find there?
Between rivers and lakes.
4. What is the definition of “freshwater”?
Less that 1% of salt context
5. The mouth of a river can sometimes become “murky” because of all of the sediments that are washed
downstream. Name 3 problems are caused by “murkiness”?
Toxic chemicals, cloudy waters and chocking sediments
6. Name 2 types of fish that can live in low oxygen environments:
Lungfish and Teleosti
7. Explain why reefs are so important to preserve. What are some of the dangers to coral reefs? Name 2.
It provides a home and food for fish and it’s an aesthetic for humans. Our biggest problems coral bleaching and anchoring .
8. There are different types of marine reef environments. Define the following:
a. Fringing Reefs: a coral reef that lies close to the shore
b. Barrier Reefs: a coral reef running parallel to the shore but separated from it by a channel of deep water
c. Atolls: a ring-shaped reef, island, or chain of islands formed of coral
d. Coral Reefs: a reef consisting of coral consolidated into limestone
Marshes, swamps, and bogs. All three create a variety of plant life
2. What causes high and low tides? Explain.
By gravitational pull of the moon and sun and the rotation of the earth
3. Where would you find an estuary? What type of organisms would you expect to find there?
Between rivers and lakes.
4. What is the definition of “freshwater”?
Less that 1% of salt context
5. The mouth of a river can sometimes become “murky” because of all of the sediments that are washed
downstream. Name 3 problems are caused by “murkiness”?
Toxic chemicals, cloudy waters and chocking sediments
6. Name 2 types of fish that can live in low oxygen environments:
Lungfish and Teleosti
7. Explain why reefs are so important to preserve. What are some of the dangers to coral reefs? Name 2.
It provides a home and food for fish and it’s an aesthetic for humans. Our biggest problems coral bleaching and anchoring .
8. There are different types of marine reef environments. Define the following:
a. Fringing Reefs: a coral reef that lies close to the shore
b. Barrier Reefs: a coral reef running parallel to the shore but separated from it by a channel of deep water
c. Atolls: a ring-shaped reef, island, or chain of islands formed of coral
d. Coral Reefs: a reef consisting of coral consolidated into limestone
9. Draw a diagram of a marine environment and define the following:
a. Intertidal: the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide
b. Pelagic: an open sea
c. Abyssal: the depths of the ocean
d. Benthic: what happens under a body of water
a. Intertidal: the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide
b. Pelagic: an open sea
c. Abyssal: the depths of the ocean
d. Benthic: what happens under a body of water
10. What is “winterkill” in a lake? What happens?
11. Describe the differences in the types of food webs found in the two ocean light zones, euphotic and
aphotic. Where does the initial energy input for each come from?
12. Explain how lakes “turn-over” yearly and what this process causes. Name one positive and one negative
aspect of turn-over.
11. Describe the differences in the types of food webs found in the two ocean light zones, euphotic and
aphotic. Where does the initial energy input for each come from?
12. Explain how lakes “turn-over” yearly and what this process causes. Name one positive and one negative
aspect of turn-over.
13. Draw a diagram of a lake and define the following:
a. Littoral Zone - the region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean
b. Limnetic Zone - open surface waters in a lake, away from the shore
c. Profundal Zone - a deep zone of an inland body of freestanding water
a. Littoral Zone - the region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean
b. Limnetic Zone - open surface waters in a lake, away from the shore
c. Profundal Zone - a deep zone of an inland body of freestanding water