Phytoplankton

Unit 5: Oceanography
Lesson 1: Importance of our Oceans

Ocean Significance

The ocean provides air, food, and water.

Plankton

• Most air we breathe is provided by plankton, which perform photosynthesis converting sunlight and carbon dioxide into oxygen

Food Web

• Plankton, autotrophs, are food for primary consumers such as small fish, which get eaten by larger fish or humans (secondary consumers)

Water

• The ocean provides fresh drinking water by a process known as the water cycle.

• Sunlight causes ocean, salt water to evaporate and form clouds

• It falls back down as fresh water or precipitation: rain, snow, and hail

Problems:

• Overfishing - regulating fishing boats is a large job

• Climate Change - change in global temperatures caused mostly from an increase of CO₂ from burning fossil fuels

• Ocean Acidification - an increase in carbo ndioxide in our atmosphere gets absorbed in our oceans resulting in a decrease in pH in the ocean

  • Corals lose their ability to rebuilt their skeleton, which affects the food web

​Protecting our oceans is critical in maintaining clean air, food, and water in order to survive.

• Conserve water, limit waste and air pollution and choose what foods to consume

Everyone has the responsibility to help protect our oceans

Solutions

Multiple Choice

Plankton produce what?

• Food for consumers

• Food for secondary consumers

• Oxygen we breath

• All of the above

Multiple Choice

Our fresh drinking water comes from ____.

• Water cycle

• underground

• ocean currents

• Volcanic eruptions

Multiple Choice

Sunlight causes ocean water to become clouds by what process?

• precipititaion

• evaporation

• rain

• climate change

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is not a problem affecting our oceans?

• overfishing

• ocean acidfication

• sharks

• climate change

Multiple Choice

The problem where coral are not able to rebuild their skeleton is a result of what?

• increase in CO₂ in the air

• increase in ocean pH

• BOTH

• increase in CO₂ and decrease in pH