Ocean Food Chains

1. What is the primary source of energy for almost all life in the ocean?

• A. Deep sea vents
• B. Sunlight
• C. Ocean currents
• D. Fish waste

2. Why are phytoplankton called 'primary producers'?

• A. They eat other fish to grow
• B. They are the largest animals in the sea
• C. They create their own energy using sunlight
• D. They hide from predators at the bottom of the ocean

3. What happens to the amount of energy at each step as it moves up the food chain?

• A. The energy stays exactly the same
• B. The energy increases with each step
• C. A lot of energy is lost as heat
• D. The energy turns into salt water

4. Which creature is considered an apex predator in the ocean?

• A. Phytoplankton
• B. Krill
• C. Sardine
• D. Orca

1. Why would removing all sharks from the ocean cause a problem for phytoplankton?

• A. Sharks eat phytoplankton directly
• B. Without predators, mid-size fish would overpopulate and eat all the plankton-eaters
• C. Sharks provide nutrients for the water that phytoplankton need
• D. The ocean would become too warm without sharks

2. How does a blue whale's diet strategy help it grow to such a massive size?

• A. It eats other huge predators
• B. It eats krill to stay close to the energy source, wasting less energy
• C. It spends most of its time hibernating in the deep sea
• D. It absorbs sunlight directly through its skin

3. What is 'marine snow' and why is it important?

• A. Frozen ice at the surface
• B. A type of toxic waste that kills fish
• C. Falling bits of food that feed deep-sea creatures in the dark
• D. The foam created by crashing waves

4. What follows the 'law of energy' in an ocean food pyramid?

• A. There are fewer apex predators because they require more energy to survive
• B. There are more apex predators because they are the strongest
• C. Small creatures are rare because they are hard to find
• D. Energy only flows from the top of the pyramid to the bottom