Activity #6 - Hydro-thermal Vent Food Web:Objective:
Students will make a food web diagram of the hydrothermal vent community and show the flow of energy
and materials in this ecosystem.
Materials:
· Hydrothermal vent organism cards
· Art paper
· Marking pens
Procedures:
1. Teacher gives lesson on food chain levels: producers, consumers, carnivores, top carnivores and decomposers.
2. Obtain a set of organism cards. Read the cards. Determine the correct position of each card on the food
web chart.
3. Then use your food web to list 3 food chains. Begin with simple chemicals and include producers, consumers,
carnivores and decomposers in your food chain.
4. Share one food chain with the class
Notes:
Evaluation:
1. Some hydrothermal vents seem to last only a few years, others may last many decades. But at some point the vent stops releasing hot, sulfide-rich water. When a vent stops, the living community faces big changes. Which is the first member of the community affected?
Bacteria are the first trophic level of the community affected, since they need hydrogen sulfide from the vents to carry out chemosynthesis.
2. The tubeworms and mussels depend upon chemosynthetic bacteria for food, and they would probably die out next, with the rest of the food web collapsing quickly thereafter. Hydrothermal vents are not found close to one another. Vent organisms might possibly be produced at one vent and travel to a new one drifting in their planktonic larval stage. List some characteristics of the vent larvae that might improve their chances of survival and ability to colonize new habitats.
Larvae are long lived, highly mobile and contain rich food reserves. They may have large eyes or chemical sensors to be able to detect new vent habitats at a distance and migrate towards them. They may possess camouflage, spiny appendages, poison or foul taste that would prevent them being eaten along the way.
3. What do you think might cause a hydrothermal vent to stop venting?
Shifting of plates and movement of rocks deep within the crust may close off certain vents and open others.
4. Scientists were amazed to find life at hydrothermal vents. They have begun to think that life may be able to exist in other areas first thought to be too hot or too cold. What might this mean in terms of seeking life on other planets?
The discovery of a complex biological community in the deep sea vents has given scientistscause to consider the possibility that organisms may be able to survive in habitats we once thought incapable
of supporting life.
Students will make a food web diagram of the hydrothermal vent community and show the flow of energy
and materials in this ecosystem.
Materials:
· Hydrothermal vent organism cards
· Art paper
· Marking pens
Procedures:
1. Teacher gives lesson on food chain levels: producers, consumers, carnivores, top carnivores and decomposers.
2. Obtain a set of organism cards. Read the cards. Determine the correct position of each card on the food
web chart.
3. Then use your food web to list 3 food chains. Begin with simple chemicals and include producers, consumers,
carnivores and decomposers in your food chain.
4. Share one food chain with the class
Notes:
- Primary Producers // They are sea creatures that make their own food by Photosynthesis or Chemosynthesis.
- Primary Consumers // Are the animals that eat the primary producers , and the bacteria in the Hydrothermal Vents.
- First Order Carnivores // They eat the primary consumers such as tiny fishes , shrimp , and other animals that eat bacteria.
- Top Order Carnivores // These species are the ones that are on top of the food web,well, just right below us.
- Us // We are kind of untouchables , we are on the top of all food webs/ chains.
Evaluation:
1. Some hydrothermal vents seem to last only a few years, others may last many decades. But at some point the vent stops releasing hot, sulfide-rich water. When a vent stops, the living community faces big changes. Which is the first member of the community affected?
Bacteria are the first trophic level of the community affected, since they need hydrogen sulfide from the vents to carry out chemosynthesis.
2. The tubeworms and mussels depend upon chemosynthetic bacteria for food, and they would probably die out next, with the rest of the food web collapsing quickly thereafter. Hydrothermal vents are not found close to one another. Vent organisms might possibly be produced at one vent and travel to a new one drifting in their planktonic larval stage. List some characteristics of the vent larvae that might improve their chances of survival and ability to colonize new habitats.
Larvae are long lived, highly mobile and contain rich food reserves. They may have large eyes or chemical sensors to be able to detect new vent habitats at a distance and migrate towards them. They may possess camouflage, spiny appendages, poison or foul taste that would prevent them being eaten along the way.
3. What do you think might cause a hydrothermal vent to stop venting?
Shifting of plates and movement of rocks deep within the crust may close off certain vents and open others.
4. Scientists were amazed to find life at hydrothermal vents. They have begun to think that life may be able to exist in other areas first thought to be too hot or too cold. What might this mean in terms of seeking life on other planets?
The discovery of a complex biological community in the deep sea vents has given scientistscause to consider the possibility that organisms may be able to survive in habitats we once thought incapable
of supporting life.