Beneath Blue Waters

1. Beneath Blue Waters

2. Vocabulary • Submersible • Oceanographers • A craft that operates under water • Scientists who specialize in the study of the ocean

3. Vocabulary • Hydrothermal • Menagerie • Mesopelagic • Relating to hot water. • A collection of wild animals. • Having to do with ocean life at a depth of 600-3000 feet.

4. Vocabulary • Panoramic • Prow • Starboard • Visible over a wide area • The forward part of a ships body; the bow • The right-hand side of a ship as one faces forward

5. Vocabulary • Bioluminescence • Tentacles • Crustacean • Sparse • The emission of light by certain living organisms • long, elastic, narrow limbs of an animal, used to feel, grasp, or move • One of a large group of hard-shelled animals that have jointed parts and live mostly in the water • Not dense or crowded

6. Vocabulary • Gelatinous • Undulates • Like gelatin; thick and slow to flow • Moves in a smooth, wavy motion

7. Vocabulary • Tether • Unfathomable • A rope or chain that is secured to an object or animal, allowing it a limited range to move about • Impossible to measure

8. Writer’s Craft/Making Inferences • What comparison do the authors make that helps readers picture Benthocodonendunculata? • Why have so few people seen the Benthocodon in its natural environment? • The authors compare Benthocodonendunculata to an Easter bonnet. • Only a few people have seen the Benthocodon in its natural environment because it lives in the deepest part of the ocean.

9. Drawing Conclusions • Why do the authors call the creatures in the hydrothermal vent an unimaginable community? • The authors call the creatures in the hydrothermal vent an unimaginable community because the creatures are like nothing that they have seen before!

10. Noting Details/Making Inferences • What would you feel, see, and hear if you were aboard Alvin? • The caption for the photograph of the ctenophore on page 602 tells us that this creature has not been named yet. What does this tell you about deep sea life? • You would Feel: cramped and cold; See: deep sea creatures, scientists operating variety of equipment to carry out experiments, tape recorder hanging by chain to record scientists’ observations, lights, monitors, and cameras; Hear : scientists’ conversation. • This creature tells me creatures are still being discovered.

11. Drawing Conclusions/Compare and Contrast • In what ways does a deep sea creature’s large size help it find food? • How is the behavior of the biologist on Alvin similar to that of the deep sea creatures he investigates? • The deep sea creature’s large size helps it find food by covering a larger area of the ocean floor, making it more likely to find food. • The personalities of the biologist and that of the creatures he studies are alike by: the biologist waiting patiently for the deep sea creatures to come into view, just as the creatures do not actively hunt but drift across the ocean floor.

12. Making Inferences/Noting Details • Why is the biologist a little unsettled by the huge jellyfish? • Why do the scientists decide not to capture one of the large jellyfish? • The biologist was a little unsettled by the huge jellyfish because the jellyfish was so huge and seemed to try and eat Alvin. • The scientists decide not to capture the creatures because the creatures are too fragile to bring to the surface for study; some are too big for the containers on Alvin; they have taken pictures of the jellyfish.

13. Making Inferences • What factors might determine how long a dive aboard Alvin can last? • How do you think the scientists feel as Alvin resurfaces? Explain. • The factors that determine how long a dive aboard Alvin can last are the amount of oxygen and electricity onboard; crew fatigue; other scientists wanting to dive. • The scientists would feel satisfied as Alvin resurfaces, they have collected information and are grateful for the chance to go on the dive, since not all can go.