Topic: In the deep sea

Target group

4th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

General aim of education

Students characterize selected ocean organisms, describing their adaptations in external construction to life at various depths.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• describe the conditions prevailing in the deep sea;

• explain why there are no plants in the depths of the oceans;

• indicate adaptation of animals to life at a great depth.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• glue;

• sheets of gray paper;

• scissors;

• silhouettes of marine organisms;

• blue paint (various shades) or blue paper in various shades;

• paint roller.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The instructor asks the chosen student to exchange the factors that determine the life in the water.

• The teacher gives the topic, the goals of the lesson in a language understandable for the student, and the criteria of success.

Realization

• The instructor recommends the pupils to read the fragment „Living conditions in the deep sea”, and then pointed out the similarities and differences of living conditions in the deep sea and in the water depth of the lake.

• The teacher presents and discusses the interactive illustration. He then divides the students into groups and recommends that each of them carry out an in‑depth analysis of one of the points presented in the diagram, based on available sources of information (e.g. internet, atlas or encyclopedia). Students present the results of work in groups. Each team ends their presentation with the wording of the conclusions.

• The teacher asks students to carry out the recommended interactive exercise themselves.

• The teacher gives out sheets of paper and art materials and explains the pupils' task: on the basis of information learned during the lesson and on the previous classes, they are to prepare a poster showing the distribution of aquatic organisms. The students together with the lecturer determine the criteria for the poster evaluation.

• Students present their posters and evaluate the work of colleagues.

Summary

• Students perform Exercise No. 2.

• The teacher asks students to assess the atmosphere prevailing during the lesson, using the „Smily” method..

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

In the deep sea

Sunlight doesn’t reach ocean waters at the depth of 1000 m below the surface. There is absolute darkness. No plant life can survive in this zone. However, there are animals that feed on plant and animal remains that fall from surface water layers that are reached by sunlight. Other animals that live in the deep sea are predators. Many animals have developed various light‑emitting organs that are useful for hunting or searching for a mate. Certain animals have completely lost the organ of sight. Others have developed huge eyes so that they may receive even the weakest optical stimuli.

An additional difficulty for animals living in the deep sea is the pressure that rises as depth increases. In the ocean trenches, water pressure is 1000‑times higher than air pressure! Organisms that live near the surface cannot withstand such pressure, as their bodies would be crushed. The deep‑sea organisms, on the other hand, aren’t able to surface, as they would be ripped apart by the internal pressure that protects their bodies from being crushed in the depths.

The variety of organisms that live in the deep sea and ocean trenches still remain largely undiscovered, but it’s still greater than was expected. There is a particularly large variety of invertabrates that consume the smallest nutrient particles from silt.
Marine annelids are organisms that slightly resemble earthworms, but are equipped with numerous bristles. They crawl on the bed or float in water, consuming small organisms or their remains. They are the primary source of nutrition for other animals.

Many species of cephalopods can also be found in the ocean depths, primarily octopi which have a soft body and eight tentacles of equal length and squids which have an elongated body and ten tentacles, two of which are visibly longer.

Deep‑sea fish can be found up to the depth of 8000 metres below sea level. They are very diverse in terms of their appearance and what they feed on.

• The deep sea is a part of marine waters where the sunlight does not penetrate.

• The deep sea is characterised by extremely high pressure.

• Deap‑sea animals feed on dead organic matter that comes from near‑surface water layers, bacteria and other animals.