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Kelp
Kelp
Forest
Forest
Food
Critter
Web Cards
Activity
Objectives: Card
Information
•
To learn about interesting kelp forest organisms
•
To learn how to look for specific information in paragraphs
•
To categorize organisms according to trophic level
•
To create and interpret a food web
•
To determine how various events and disturbances impact the food web
Materials:
•
Kelp Forest Critter Cards (4 single-sided pages)
•
Scissors
•
Glue or tape
•
Colored pencils or pens
•
Large piece of paper
•
Highlighter
Organisms:
Bald Eagle
Bat Star
California Sheephead
Decorator Crab
Giant Kelp
Phytoplankton
Purple Sea Urchin
Red Abalone
Sea Cucumber
Sea Otter
Spiny Brittle Star
Sunflower Star
White Shark
Zooplankton
Procedure:
1.
Read the information on each species and highlight what it eats.
2.
Write on the card which organisms in the food web it eats.
3.
Using the information provided, write each organism’s ecological role on the line below its name on
the card: producers, primary consumers (herbivores), secondary/tertiary consumers (carnivores),
decomposers. Note that some organisms may fill two roles. The Sun’s ecological role is “ultimate
energy source”
4.
Carefully cut out the cards (left side of table).
5.
Move the cards around to create a food web for the following organisms. The decomposers eat all
organisms, so they should be off to one side under the heading “Decomposers.”
6.
Add the card for the Sun in the appropriate place.
7.
Glue or tape down the cards. Draw arrows to show the flow of energy from each organism to the
organism(s) that eat it (pointing toward the consumer – example: grass → deer).
8.
Answer the questions on the next page.
Kelp Forest Critter CardsName:
Card
___________________
Period: ___________________
Information
Kelp Forest Food Web Activity
Questions:
1.
As sea otters recover and become more numerous throughout California, what do you predict is
happening to the number of sea urchins? Amount of giant kelp?
2.
If a huge storm wipes out all the kelp, what happens to the other organisms in the community?
3.
La Nina events bring particularly cold water with lots of nutrients, causing kelp and phytoplankton to
grow very well. For organisms that will increase in number or biomass, outline the card in blue. For
organisms that will decrease in number or biomass, outline the card in red.
4.
In Alaska, orcas (killer whales) have begun eating lots of otters because their normal prey (seals, sea
lions, whales) are less numerous. What do you expect is happening to the otter population? Sea
urchin population? Kelp population?
5.
In addition to energy, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and chemicals are passed from one organism to
another. From 1947 to 1983, a chemical plant dumped 1,700 tons of DDT (an insecticide) off the coast
of Southern California. Because it dissolves in the fat of animals, DDT builds up in the body of animals
even if they do not die. DDT is taken up by kelp and phytoplankton and accumulates in the bodies of
the organisms that eat the kelp and phytoplankton. Which species on this food web will have the
highest amount of DDT in their bodies?
Kelp Forest Critter Cards
Bald Eagle
____________________
Information
http://www.clker.com/clipart-26439.html
Card
Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Bald eagles are not actually bald, but have white heads and
brown bodies. They scavenge many meals by harassing other
birds or by eating dead animals or garbage. They eat mainly fish,
but also hunt mammals (including sea otter pups), gulls, and
waterfowl. The bald eagle has been the national emblem and
bird of the United States since 1782. They usually live near the
ocean or large bodies of freshwater with lots of fish. They have
recovered from being endangered in the early 20th century by
hunting and pesticides.
Bat Star
____________________
MBA - Kelp Forest Critter Cards
Bat Star Patiria miniata
[size: to 8 in. (20 cm)]
Bat stars come in a wide variety of solid and mottled colors,
including red, orange, yellow, brown, green and purple. They
have webbing between their 5 (or sometimes more) short,
triangular arms, which gives them a batlike look. They eat algae
(like kelp) and small animals (like tubeworms), but mostly
scavenge dead animals on the bottom. Like all sea stars, a bat
star’s stomach can come out of its mouth and cover its food to
eat.
California Sheephead Semicossyphus pulcher
California Sheephead
____________________
MBA – KelpForest Critter Cards
[size: to 3 ft (91 cm)]
Sheephead swim above rocky areas and are eaten by bald
eagles, sea lions, harbor seals, and humans. They are all born
female, but turn into males when they grow to about 12 inches
(7 or 8 years old). They also change color from red to red and
black with white chins. Sheephead eat snails, crabs, urchins, and
other invertebrates. They are now rare because they are often
targeted by spear fishermen. They can live up to 50 years.
Decorator Crab
____________________
MBA – Kelp Forest Critter Cards
Decorator Crab Loxorhynchus crispatus
[size: to 3.5 in. (8.8 cm)]
A decorator crab camouflages its shell with algae, sponges, and
other things that grow on local rocks. When the crab sheds its
outer skeleton to grow larger, it has to redecorate. Decorator
crabs eat sea urchins, small crustaceans, and sponges. Decorator
crabs are an important food source for some fishes, including
croakers and cabezon.
Kelp Forest Critter Cards
Information
http://www.arthursclipart.org
Card
Giant Kelp
_________________
Giant Kelp Macrocystic pyrifera
[size: to 175 ft tall (53 m)]
Like trees of the sea, giant kelp (a type of marine algae)
conducts photosynthesis and creates its own ecosystem that
hosts many fishes, invertebrates, and other organisms. Held
upright by gas-filled bladders, kelp fronds grow 10-12 inches per
day straight up to the surface, where they form a dense canopy.
Its stems are tough but flexible, allowing the kelp to sway. Like a
plant’s root system, the holdfast anchors the kelp to a rock. Kelp
is harvested for use in foods such as ice cream and toothpaste.
Phytoplankton [size: 2×10−6- 2×10−4 m]
Phytoplankton are photosynthesizing microscopic organisms
that inhabit the upper sunlit layer of almost all oceans and
bodies of fresh water. Although too small to be individually seen
without a microscope, when present in high enough numbers,
they may appear as a green discoloration of the water due to
the presence of chlorophyll within their cells. Phytoplankton
account for half of all photosynthetic activity on Earth and much
of the oxygen present in the Earth's atmosphere. They are
limited by nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorous.
Phytoplankton
____________________
Purple Sea Urchin
____________________
MBA – Kelp Forest Critter Cards
Purple Sea Urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus
[size: to 4 in. (10 cm)]
A sea urchin looks like a pin cushion because it has a round inner
shell, called a “test,” covered with spines, pincers, and tube feet.
The spines spear kelp and protect an urchin from predators. An
urchin uses its many tube feet to move, hold onto rocks, and
move food to its mouth. During a population surge, sea
urchins—which normally eat pieces of kelp that fall to the
seafloor—will feed on the stipes of giant kelp plants and can
completely destroy a kelp bed.
Red Abalone
____________________
MBA – Kelp Forest Critter Cards
Red Abalone Haliotis rufescens
[size: to 11.8 in. (30 cm)]
Red abalone, a type of snail, live in crevices, rarely moving far
from a chosen spot on the rock. The holes in the shell are
outlets for water circulation. When their tentacles sense a large
pieces of drifting kelp, the abalone rears toward it, then grabs
the seaweed with its big foot. Due to overfishing and disease,
today abalone face extinction (the white abalone is officially
endangered), so commercial fishing is not allowed and there are
very strict rules for sport fishing.
Kelp Forest Critter Cards
Card
Information
Sea Cucumber
____________________
MBA – Kelp Forest Critter Cards
Sea Cucumber Parastichopus californicus
[size: to 16 in. (40 cm)]
Relatives of the sea stars and urchins, sea cucumbers have soft
bodies and look like a big worm. They swallow sand and mud
and filter out food particles from dead organisms. They move
very slowly and are eaten by humans in some Asian cultures.
When a predator attacks a sea cucumber, it can shed its sticky
internal organs, which entangle and distract the predator while
the sea cucumber escapes. The shed organs soon grow back.
Sea Otter Enhydra lutris
Sea Otter
____________________
MBA – Kelp Forest Critter Cards
[size: to 5.5 ft (1.7 m)]
Hunters nearly drove sea otters extinct in the 1700s and 1800s,
but they’ve recovered to nearly 2000 in California waters today.
For warmth, the sea otter relies on its thick fur coat and burns
calories at nearly three times the rate you do! An otter fuels its
fast metabolism by eating up to a quarter of its weight in food
every day. The otter dives for food and then eats it lying on its
back at the surface. It consumes many small animals like
abalone, snails, sea urchins, and crabs.
Spiny Brittle Star
____________________
MBA – Kelp Forest Critter Cards
Spiny Brittle Star Ophiothrix spiculata
[size: to 5.7 in. (14.4 cm)]
Brittle stars hide among rocks and in the rootlike kelp holdfasts,
anchored into cracks by their long spines. Their delicate arms
break easily, but also grow back quickly. They catch suspended
food particles and plankton by waving their arms through the
water. Small tube feet on each arm transfer the food to the
mouth. They also scavenge detritus and dead things from the
bottom. A single holdfast may house hundreds of brittle stars!
Sun
The sun is the star at the center of Earth’s solar system. It is
located 149.6 million kilometers from Earth (8 min 19 s at light
speed). By fueling photosynthesis of plants, algae, and
phytoplankton, the sun is the ultimate source of energy on
Earth.
Sun
_____________________
Kelp Forest Critter Cards
Card
Information
Sunflower Star Pycnopodia helianthoides
michiganscienceart.com
[size: to 39 in. (1 m)]
Sunflower Star
____________________
An array of 24 arms distinguishes this magnificent sunflower star
from other sea stars. Soft skin in colors ranging from purple to
brown, orange or yellow adds to its beauty. This sea star is a
voracious predator - feeding on sea urchins, mussels, crabs, sea
cucumbers, snails, brittle stars, and more. When on the prowl
for food using their strong sense of smell and very sensitive
indicators of light and dark, the sunflower star can move at the
remarkable speed of over 40 inches (1 m) per minute.
White Shark Carchardodon carcharias
White Shark
____________________
MBA – Sharks & Rays Critter Cards
[size: to 30 ft (9.1 m)]
At any one time, a white shark has more than 3,000 razor-sharp
teeth arranged in rows. It uses the first two rows to grab food
and rotates the other rows in as teeth are lost. White sharks eat
fishes, sea birds and mammals (such as sea otters), turtles and
invertebrates. Like all sharks, the white shark has no bones; its
skeleton is made of cartilage, the same tissue that gives shape
to our ears and nose. Their torpedo-shaped bodies and
symmetrical tails are adaptations for efficient swimming.
Various
Zooplankton [size: > 2×10−7 m]
Zooplankton
____________________
Zooplankton are non-photosynthesizing organisms drifting in
oceans, seas, and bodies of fresh water. Individual zooplankton
are usually too small to be seen with the naked eye, but some
species are very big such as jellyfish and squid. Ecologically
important zooplankton include foraminiferans, radiolarians,
copepods, krill (all on card), and many juvenile fishes and
invertebrates. Like phytoplankton, zooplankton are distributed
in patches restricted by temperature and salinity gradients.
Most zooplankton eat smaller phytoplankton.
Kelp
Kelp
Forest
Forest
Food
Critter
Web Cards
Activity
Questions:
Card
Information
KEY
1.
As sea otters recover and become more numerous throughout California, what do you
predict is happening to the number of sea urchins? Amount of giant kelp?
Sea otters increase → sea urchins decrease → kelp increase
2.
If a huge storm wipes out all the kelp, what happens to the other organisms in the
community?
No kelp → no community until it starts to recover through ecological succession
Phytoplankton, zooplankton, brittle stars, sunflower stars may survive
3.
La Nina events bring particularly cold water with lots of nutrients, causing kelp and
phytoplankton to grow very well. For organisms that will increase in number or
biomass, outline the card in blue. For organisms that will decrease in number or
biomass, outline the card in red.
All are blue!! Since kelp and phytoplankton are bottom of food web, if they
increase, everything increases!
4.
In Alaska, orcas (killer whales) have begun eating lots of otters because their normal
prey (seals, sea lions, whales) are less numerous. What do you expect is happening to
the otter population? Sea urchin population? Kelp population?
Otters decrease → urchins increase → kelp decrease
5.
In addition to energy, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and chemicals are passed from one
organism to another. From 1947 to 1983, a chemical plant dumped 1,700 tons of DDT
(an insecticide) off the coast of Southern California. Because it dissolves in the fat of
animals, DDT builds up in the body of animals even if they do not die. DDT is taken up
by kelp and phytoplankton and accumulates in the bodies of the organisms that eat the
kelp and phytoplankton. Which species on this food web will have the highest amount
of DDT in their bodies?
Top predators – bald eagle, white shark, sheephead, otter
Kelp
Kelp
Forest
Forest
Food
Critter
Web Cards
Activity
Card
KEY
Information
Decomposers
Spiny Brittle Star
Sea Cucumber
Bald Eagle
California
Sheephead
White Shark
Bat Star
Sea Otter
Sunflower Star
Decorator
Crab
Spiny Brittle Star
Purple Sea
Urchin
Red Abalone
Giant Kelp
Zooplankton
Phytoplankton
Sun
Kelp
Kelp
Forest
Forest
Food
Critter
Web Cards
Activity
Card
KEY
Information
Organism
Trophic Level
Bald Eagle
Bat Star
California Sheephead
Decorator Crab
Giant Kelp
Phytoplankton
Purple Sea Urchin
Red Abalone
Sea Cucumber
Sea Otter
Spiny Brittle Star
Tertiary consumer
Detritivore/Decomposer
Secondary/tertiary consumer
Secondary consumer
Producer
Producer
Primary consumer
Primary consumer
Detritivore/Decomposer
Secondary/tertiary consumer
Secondary consumer,
detritivore/decomposer
Sun
Sunflower Star
White Shark
Zooplankton
Secondary/tertiary consumer
Tertiary consumer
Primary consumer
Kelp
KelpForest
ForestEnergy
CritterPyramid
Cards
Card
Objectives:
•To create an energy pyramid with trophic levels
•To show transfer of energy from the sun and to heat
•To show the efficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels
Information
Materials:
•Completed kelp forest food web activity results (or cards showing trophic level)
•Grid
•Colored pencils of pens
•Glue or tape
Procedure:
1. Label x-axis as “Units of Energy in Each Trophic Level.
2. Label y-axis as “Trophic Level”
3. Label the bottom trophic level, which covers 100 squares, symbolizing 100 units of energy..
4. Sketch with appropriate size 3 higher trophic levels, assuming 10% energy transfer efficiency.
5. Color and label each trophic level as below.
Trophic Level
•
Producers
•
Primary consumers (herbivores)
•
Secondary consumers (carnivores)
•
Tertiary consumers (apex predators)
6.
7.
Color
green
blue
orange
red
Tape next to the appropriate trophic level each of the cards below.
Use colored arrows to show how the physical environment (sun and heat) interact with the energy
pyramid.
Kelp
KelpForest
ForestEnergy
CritterPyramid
Cards
Card
Information
Kelp
KelpForest
ForestEnergy
CritterPyramid
Cards
Trophic Level
Card
Information
Tertiary
Consumers
Secondary
Consumers
Primary
Consumers
Producers
Units of Energy in Each Trophic Level
KEY