Marine Environment

Summary
A lesson on the plants and animals that live in various marine environments based on water depth. The reading is accompanied by true/false questions.

Objectives
• To introduce students to different ocean environments.

Suggested Grades
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade

Excerpt
Continents and islands in the ocean have thousands of miles of shoreline, also called coast or coastline. People enjoy spending time along the seashore, whether it is on sandy beaches, rocky cliffs and everything between. Besides being enjoyable for humans, these coastal areas provide wonderful habitat for a wide variety of sea creatures, aquatic birds and ocean plants. There are several different habitats along the coastline that are defined by the depth of the water and the distance from shore.

Intertidal Zone
The level of the water at a coastline changes with the ocean tides. The water reaches further inland at high tide and more of the shore is exposed at low tide. The area of land between high and low tide is called the intertidal zone. Sandy intertidal zones are home to burrowing animals like crabs and clams.

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