| A | B |
|---|
| Streams and rivers are examples of _________ ecosystems. | flowing-water ecosystems |
| Lakes and ponds are examples of ______ ecosystems. | standing-water ecosystems |
| Give two examples of standing-water ecosystems. | Lakes and ponds |
| Give two examples of flowing-water ecosystems. | Streams and rivers |
| Where water flows quickly, there is a lot of dissolved _______ but little ____. | oxygen, plant life |
| _____ are free-floating organisms that live in both fresh and saltwater (usually unicellular). | Plankton (Technically, they are defined as anything that can't swim against a current. In the ocean, most plankton are single-celled, but floating seaweed, and even a fat fish called a Mola mola is classified as plankton. The Mola mola fish has tiny fins and can't swim strongly to swim against the ocean currents, so it just floats along eating floating seaweed), 
|
| Plankton that are autotrophs (producers) are called ____ and they form the base of most aquatic food chains. | phytoplankton,
|
| Plankton that are heterotrophs (consumers) are called _____. | zooplankton,
|
| An ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface of the soil for at least part of the year is called a(n) ______. | wetland |
| _________ are formed where a river meets the sea. | Estuaries |
| ______ water is a mixture of fresh and saltwater. | Brackish |
| ________ is partially decomposed organic matter. It washes into estuaries to form the base of the estuary food chain. | Detritus |
| _______ are estuaries that are dominated by grasses. | Salt marshes |
| ________ swamps are coastal areas dominated by salt-tolerant trees with big roots that trap sediments and prevent erosion | Mangrove,  |
| What type of coastal ecosystem is shown below?, | A mangrove swamp. Notice the huge root system coming off the mangrove trees., |
| The _______ zone is the layer of the ocean that light penetrates | photic,  |
| The _______ zone is the layer of the ocean that light cannot penetrate. | aphotic (pronounced "A-foe-tic"), |
| No autotrophs can grow in the aphotic zone because without light, _________ is impossible. | photosynthesis, |
| The part of the ocean that lies beyond the continental shelf is called the ________. | open ocean, |
| _______ is the zone between the low tide mark and the edge of the continental shelf. | The coastal ocean, |
What type of coastal ecosystem is this seal swimming around in?,  | kelp forest, |
What type of coastal ecosystem is pictured below?,  | Coral reef, |
| The salinity of water refers to how much ____ is dissolved in the water. | salt |
| The ____ of water refers to how much salt is dissolved in the water. | salinity |
| The _____ zone is the zone between the low and high tide marks near a beach. | intertidal, |
TRUE or FALSE: Corals, like the one shown below, are animals.,  | TRUE (Even though it looks like a rock from afar, if you look at it up close, you will see thousands of coral polyps, similar to those in the picture. These are animals that are closely related to jelly fish),  |
| TRUE or FALSE: Water that is nutrient-rich will be clear and clean looking. | FALSE (If water has a lot of nutrients in it, especially dissolve nitrogen and phosphorus, there will be a lot of algae growing in it, which will make the water look murky. Places with clear water, like coral reefs and deep clear lakes, are nutrient poor. Phytoplankton don't grow well in nutrient-poor water, so the water is much clearer)) |
| Which type of coastal marine ecosystem has the highest biodiversity of any aquatic biome? | Coral reef (They are often called "the tropical rainforests of the oceans because they are home to so many different species, yet are found in waters that have very little nutrients, just like rainforests have nutrient-poor soil), |
