A food chain shows giant kelp as the producer at the base leading to the first-level consumer sea urchin. The sea urchin leads to the second-level consumer sea otter. Your lab partner Sam said since kelp are not plants and they grow in the water, they cannot undergo photosynthesis. Critique Sam’s statement. Then construct an explanation using evidence from the art and text reminding Sam of the roles kelp play in cycling matter through kelp forest organisms.

Total Points: 3
Scoring Criteria
1 pt
I correctly identify whether or not Sam is incorrect in his claim that kelp “cannot undergo photosynthesis.”
1 pt
I provide the correct evidence to either support or refute Sam’s claim
1 pt
I correctly explain the cycling of matter through the kelp forest ecosystem.

carbon is found in all living things. carbon atoms move constantly through

living organisms, the oceans, the atmosphere, and the earth’s crust in what is

known as the carbon cycle. the directions taken by carbon atoms through this

cycle are very complicated and can take millions of years to make a full circle.

all animals, from humans to the dinosaurs are part of the carbon cycle. when

animals eat food, they get carbon in the form of carbohydrates and proteins.

in animals, oxygen combines with food in the cells to produce energy for daily

activity and then gives off carbon. the carbon combines with oxygen to form

carbon dioxide (co2) and is released back into the atmosphere as a waste

product when animals breathe and exhale.

from 145-65 million years ago, earth was much

hotter than today and covered with dense,

tropical swamp forests. the trees and other

plants were immense and

provided an endless supply of

food for the giant animals that

roamed the land. somewhere in

the air above one of these

forests, a lone carbon atom has joined

up with two oxygen atoms to form a molecule of co2.

the co2 molecule was sucked into the tiny holes (stomata) on the leaf of a

fern plant and joined with sunlight, chlorophyll and water to make food and

energy in the plant’s cells through photosynthesis. the oxygen (o2) from the

co2 molecule was sent back into the atmosphere; the carbon atom (c) was

detached and used to make a molecule of sugar.

if that carbon atom had been eaten instead, a totally

different situation would have developed. let’s say

that a giant plant-eating dinosaur (herbivore) ate the

fern for breakfast, and swallowed the carbon in the

fern in the form of carbohydrates and proteins. in

the process of respiration, oxygen combined with

the carbohydrates and proteins in the dinosaur’s cells

to provide energy for its daily activity.