Animal and Plant Survival

Science - Adaptations Day 2

SC.5.L.17.1: Compare and contrast adaptations displayed by animals and plants that enable them to survive in different environments such as life cycle variations, animal behaviors, and physical characteristics. SC.5.L.15.1: Describe how, when the environment changes, differences between individuals allow some plants and animals to survive and reproduce while others die or move to new locations.

​TODAY’S TARGET: Recognize characteristics of plants and animals in Florida saltwater wetlands such as mangrove swamps.

Multiple Choice

The prop roots of the red mangrove grow down from the branches. The mangrove is sometimes called the walking tree because these roots looks like walking legs. The prop roots of the red mangrove are an important characteristic that help the mangrove survive in the water by providing:

• support in the sandy, muddy bottom of the water

• Food for use later on

• Camouflage to protect from predators

• Protection for the animals that live there from predators in deeper water

​Florida’s Coastal Habitats: Mangrove Swamp

Florida’s mangrove swamps wrap around the state. Beginning south of Tampa Bay, around the Florida Keys, and up the east coast to the Indian River lagoon.
* Florida’s mangrove swamps are some of the largest in the world.​

Multiple Choice

A wide diversity of animals are found in mangrove swamps.

• True

• False

​A swamp is a wetland that is dominated by trees.
- Florida’s mangrove swamps are a saltwater wetland.
- The mangrove tree dominates the plant life in this swamp.
- There are three kinds of mangrove trees found in Florida: the red, white, and black mangroves.

Multiple Choice

Mangroves can live in...

• Hot water

• Cold water

• Salty water

• Dirty water

Multiple Choice

A swamp is a _________ that is dominated by trees.

• prairie

• tundra

• wetland

• grassland

Multiple Choice

Salinity means the level of _______________in the water.

• oxygen

• salt

• nitrogen

• salcite

​The red mangrove is sometimes called “the walking tree.”
- Roots shoot out from the branches of the red mangrove and drop into the salty water of the swamp.
- These roots make the red mangrove look like it is walking into the water.
- To survive in the salt water, these roots have special layers that filter out the salt from the water so that the plant can survive.
- The remaining salt is sent to only a few leaves on the plant, which will turn yellow and die.
* This allows the rest of the leaves on the red mangrove to receive the fresh water they need to produce food for the tree.

Multiple Choice

To survive in the salt water, these roots have special layers that _______the salt from the water so that the plant can survive.

• die because of

• keeps

• adds

• filter out

Multiple Choice

"Walking trees" is a nickname for what type of mangrove.

• black

• white

• red

• buttonwood

​The red mangrove has very specific characteristics that enable it to survive in this salt water habitat.
- One major weakness of all mangroves is cold.
- Mangroves will be killed if the temperatures fall below freezing.
- For this reason, mangrove swamps are only found in south Florida.

​To filter the salt out of the ocean water before it enters the plants, the roots have a special layer to separate salt from water.
* If scientists could create a filter that separates salt from water they way that mangroves do, fresh water would be easy to make from ocean water.
* Scientists have not been able to create this kind of filter.
-- This shows how difficult it is for mangroves to survive in salt water, and how important their roots are.

Multiple Select

What are 3 common names of Mangrove?

• Black Mangroves

• Violet Mangroves

• Red Mangroves

• White Mangroves

• Yellow Mangroves

Multiple Choice

One major weakness of all mangroves is _________.

• salt

• cold

• heat

• fish

​The leaves of the mangroves fall into the water.
- Dead plant matter is changed into a form of food called “detritus” by bacteria that live in the mud of the swamp.
- Crabs, shrimp, and worms eat the detritus on the bottom of the swamp.
- Food is plentiful in a mangrove swamp.
- The roots of the mangroves provide places for young fish to hide from predators such as large fish, including sharks.
- The food and protection found in a mangrove swamp make these habitats important nurseries for many other species.

Multiple Choice

Mangroves provide a _________________________for small fish before they swim out to the deeper ocean.

• Safe breeding ground
• Fresh water system

Multiple Choice

Which word best describes dead and decaying "stuff" found around the mangrove roots.

• scavenger

• detritus

• carnivore

• producer

​The Food Chain of a Mangrove Swamp

​Plankton in the ocean water of the swamp transform the energy of the Sun into food. Shrimp larvae in the swamp eat plankton for food. The shrimp larvae are eaten by small fish, which are eaten by larger fish. Sharks in the open water near the mangroves will eat the larger fish. Energy is transformed by the plankton, and passed through the food chain to the shrimp, small fish, larger fish, and finally to the shark.

Multiple Choice

What are tiny organisms that float near the surface of the water?

• plankton
• organisms
• abiotic factor
• insects

Multiple Choice

A red mangrove is an important tree that grows in south Florida coastal swamps. The mangrove must be able to survive in a saltwater habitat. Which of the following characteristic BEST enables the mangrove to survive in a saltwater habitat?

• Thick leaves with a waxy coating

• Prop roots that grow down from its branches

• the root's ability to filter salt out of the water

• Seeds that disperse by floating on the water