SÇIENCE AND MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT

LAGOS ANGLICAN GIRLS'GRAMMAR SCHOOL SURULERE LAGOS

LESSON PLAN FOR WEEK

DATE:

SUBJECT: Biology

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: Habitat

SUB TOPIC: Aquatic habitat

DURATION:

PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE: learner's have the knowledge of what a habitat is.

BEHAVIOURAL OBJECTIVES: by the end of the lesson, the learner's should be able to:

1. Define habitat and mention the different types.

2. Define Marine habitat and describe the characteristics.

3. Describe the pattern of the distribution of organisms in the marine

4. Mention some of adaptive features of organisms in the marine habitat

5. Mention the bones of the marine habitat.

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: To be produced by learner's during presentation.

REFERENCE BOOK: Essential Biology for senior secondary schools. M. C. Michael. Tina's publishers.
Excellence in Biology for senior secondary schools, Bk 1. F. Fakeye et Al. Cambridge University press.

CONTENT.

HABITAT.

A habitat is a place or any environment in which an organism lives and thrives naturally, and acquires
both physical and chemical constituents that about d in the environment.

There are two main types of habitat, though in some school of thoughts, it is three. They are:

1. Aquatic
2. Terrestrial and

3. Arboreal.

AQUATIC HABITAT.

Aquatic habitats are environments characterized by the presence of water either standing or flowing.
This means water bodies which include ponds, streams, lakes, oceans, rivers, and seas. Organisms found
in these water bodies are referred to as Aquatic organisms. Fishes, crabs, and plants are examples.

There are three types of aquatic habitats.

1. Marine habitat

2. Estuarine or brackish water and

3. Fresh water habitat

MARINE HABITAT.

The marine habitat occupies almost 70% of the entire Earth's surface. It is characterized by high salinity
or high salt content and lots of mineral salts. The habitat helps in controlling the atmosphere and
climates of the world. The marine habitat is made up of seas, oceans and lakes.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MARINE HABITAT.

1. SIZE: It represents the largest of all habitats. The seas cover about 70 - 75% of the whole earth surface
with land covering about 25%. In West Africa, the available marine habitat is the Atlantic ocean.

2. SALINITY: This is the total salt content of water. The salinity of the marine is very high. Sea water is
alkaline with a pH of about 8.2 and contains lots of mineral salts that are usually expressed as 35 parts
per 100.

3. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION: There are numerous chemical ions such as potassium, calcium, magnesium
and sodium in the marine water. These chemical compositions is also similar to that of the marine
animals so that they don't experience osmoregulation problems. Other io s apart from the
aforementioned are phosphates, iodides, bicarbonates, chlorides, sulphates and nitrate ions. Sodium
chloride (NaCl) has the largest amount present in sea water.

4. DENSITY AND PRESSURE: The life distribution in the marine is largely dependent on the pressure
difference in the ocean. Some organisms can only survive on the surface of the ocean where the
pressure is lower when compared to life in the greater depths. Marine animals such as whales are able
to dive to great depths and return to the surface without any hitch because they are adapted to the
changes in pressure. The density of the marine habitat is also very high and in some cases, it enables
eggs to float on the surface of the ocean or sea. 1.028 - 1.00. Water pressure increases at the rate of one
atmosphere for every 10 meters increase in depth.
5. TEMPERATURE: Temperature in the marine does not fluctuate dramatically. What happens is that the
sea absorbs and conserves much of the heat energy. However, temperature does not decrease with
increasing depth

6. WAVES, CURRENT & TIDES: Waves are caused by winds blowing over the surface of the water and the
movement can be in any direction. This can result in the mixing of the water at the surface and this
movement can also cause erosion at the shoreline. Currents, on the other hand are directional and are
brought about by the Earth's rotation. This affects the distribution of organisms. The level of the sea
rises and falls twice a day resulting in high tides and low tides. The tides are influenced by the
gravitational pull of the earth, moon and sea.

7. OXYGEN CONCENTRATION: Oxygen concentration is highest on the ocean surface. The deeper you go,
the less available. Photosynthetic organisms such as phytoplanktons release oxygen into the surface
water and this increases concentrations at this level.

8. HYDROGEN ION CONCENTRATION: Sea water tends to be alkaline with a pH of about 8.0 - 8.5 near
the surface.

PRESENTATION:

Introduction: habitat is a place where organiylive and thrive.

STEP 1: teacher Introduces the topic by writing it on the board

STEP 2: teacher divides class into 3 groups. Each group will research and present the different aquatic
habitats.

STEP 3 : Learner's break into their different groups to work on the content to be presented.

STEP 4: The teacher guides the learner's through the expected content to be presented.

EVALUATION: Will come at the end of the presentations.

ASSIGNMENT: Learners are expected to work on their presentations.

DATE:

SUBJECT: Biology

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: Aquatic Habitat

SUB TOPIC: Marine habitat; zones, distribution of organisms and their adaptive features.

DURATION: 70 minutes

PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE: learners have the knowledge of types of aquatic habitats.

BEHAVIOURAL OBJECTIVES: by the end of the lesson, the learner's should be able to:

1. Describe the zones of the marine habitat.

2. Describe the distribution of organisms.

3. Mention someof the adaptive features of the organisms of the marine life.

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: To be produced by learner's during presentation.

REFERENCE BOOK: Essential Biology for senior secondary schools. M. C. Michael. Tina's publishers.
Excellence in Biology for senior secondary schools, Bk 1. F. Fakeye et Al. Cambridge University press.

CONTENT.

ZONES OF THE MARINE HABITAT.

The major ecological zones of the marine depends on the depth of the water and the features on the
shoreline. The zones include:

Intertidal, Neritic, Oceanic and Benthic zones.

Intertidal zone: this zone is characterized by a strong wave action, and lies between the high tide level
and the low tide level. At high tides, it is submerged, and at low tides, it is exposed. The temperature
fluctuates, but there is plenty of sunlight which makes photosynthetic activities greatest in this zone.
Intertidal zones include steep Ricky cliffs, Sandy beaches or mudflats. The Rocky shores are further
divided into spray zones and intertidal zones.

Organisms found in this zone include clams, squids, snails, barnacles, starfish sea urchins, sea anemones,
crabs, mussels, limpets and whelks.
Splash zone: the splash zone is the exposed part of the habitat. It has occasional moisture and
organisms like sand crabs and ghost crabs are present.

Neritic zone: this is the shallow part of the ocean which is above the drop off of the Continental shelf. It
is about 200m deep and is permanently covered with well oxygenated water. It receives plenty of
sunlight and the water pressure is low while the temperatures are stable. The zone is Rich in ants and
animals. Planktons, seaweed, sea turtles, dolphins are found in the zone.

Oceanic zone: this zone begins offshore and is 200m deep or deeper. It includes 65% of the oceans open
water and reaches beyond the edge of the Continental shelf. Whales, sharks, squids are found in the
zone.

Benthic zone: this zone can be further divided into the shallowest and the deepest. The shallowest is
less than 200m (epipelargic), the mesopelagic is between 200m - 1000m, the bathyal is between 1000m
- 4000m, the abyssal is between 4000m - 6000m and the hadal is 6000m below.

At all levels in this zone, sunlight is unable to penetrate very deep, so organic matter from higher up in
the water column becomes the only available source of energy. Organic materials drift down to the
depths and sustains the food chain in the system. Many organisms are scavengers, or feeding on
detritus. Examples of such organisms found in this zone are bacteria, worms, sea urchins on thedeep sea
floor.

ADAPTATIONS OF ORGANISMS IN THE MARINE HABITAT.

Organisms found in each of the zones explained above are adapted to changes or fluctuations in water
temperature, depth, amount of sunlight, wave action and nutrient availability. As a result of these,
marine organisms display a range of adaptations that enable them survive. These adaptations could be
structural, behavioural, or physiological..

Marine organisms need to regulate salt intake, obtain oxygen and cope with water pressure, wave
action and wind strength. They also have to cope with receiving enough or adequate sunlight and
accommodate temperature changes.

Salt intake:

Fishes are able to drink salt water and eliminate salt through their hills with the help of the salt secreting
glands. Mari e birds also drink salt water and eliminate excess through their nasal cavities. Whales do
not drink, but obtain their water from their food.

Periwinkles possess lungs for breathing and foot attachment.

Cartilagenous fishes like sharks and dogfish have the ability to retain urea in their bodies to cope with
high salinity.

Barnacles have protective mantles or pads for attachment or anchorage to rock shore. They also have
cilia for feeding and shells that prevents dessication. The mantles are also used for retaining water.
Shrimps have powerful claws or chelipods for seizing or holding it's prey or food. Crabs burrow into the
soil or mud very fast to protect themselves against predators, strong waves and tides.

Starfish possess tubefeet which allows them to be able to hold onto rockshores. They also possess shells
which prevent dessication.

INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURE

Introduction: most sea shores along the east belt or coast are Sandy and organisms present in the
oceans and seas which have high salinity are considered marine organisms.

STEP 1: teacher Introduces the topic by writing it on the board

STEP 2: teacher divides class into 3 groups. Each group will research and present the different aquatic
habitats.

STEP 3 : Learner's break into their different groups to work on the content to be presented.

STEP 4: The teacher guides the learner's through the expected content to be presented.

SUMMARY: Marine water is characterized by their high salt content. It has different zones according to
the depths and activities. Organisms found in the marine have diverse adaptations.

EVALUATION: this will be carried out at the end of presentations.

ASSIGNMENT: what are marshes?