South Carolina Aquarium Online Curriculum, K

Focus Question
What kind of plants and animals live in the different habitats found in South Carolina?

Key Points
Key Points will give you the main information you should know to teach the activity.

Ecoregions
South Carolina is divided into five major landform regions: the Mountains, Piedmont, Sandhills, Coastal Plain and Coastal Zone. Each of these regions is characterized by a unique topography, which in turn affects the animals and plants that are able to make a home there.

The smallest in area of the five regions, the Mountain region is located in the northwest corner of the state and found in only three counties. It is part of the Blue Ridge chain of the Appalachian Mountains. It is an area characterized by mountains and valleys, rocky outcrops, waterfalls and fast-moving streams. Mountains in this region can be above 3000 ft in elevation. The climate in this region tends to be cooler and less humid than the rest of the state but with a higher rainfall amount, ranging from 60 to 80 inches a year.

The Piedmont region is in the northwest of the state and extends from the mountains to the Fall Line that crosses the state through Columbia. It is a generally flat area with gently-sloping hills and wide river valleys. As most of the soil in the Piedmont is composed of clay, a substance difficult for water to flow through, very little rainwater can soak into the soil. Much of the rainwater runs off to join the many streams and rivers that cover the landscape. The Piedmont is a warm, humid area. Because of its distance from the ocean, it does not receive the temperature-regulating effects the ocean provides and thus has wider temperature extremes than the coast. It has a rainfall range of 45 to 60 inches a year.

The Sandhills are a band of hills that run across the midlands of the state roughly where Columbia is located. The Sandhills compose approximately twelve percent of the state's area. These hills are the remains of ancient sand deposits when the ocean used to cover this part of the state. Between 250 and 450 feet above sea level, the Sandhills are higher than the surrounding Piedmont and Coastal Plain. During the summer it is generally the hottest area of the state with a high humidity. It receives approximately 44 inches of rain, but because of the looseness of the sandy soil, water drains quickly. Soil tends to be very dry and animals and plants must adapt themselves to this aridity.

The Coastal Plain is an area of flat land that comprises more than half of the state's area. Though hilly in certain places, most of the plain is flat and slowly lowers in elevation from the Sandhills to the Coast. This flatness results in many swamps and other wetlands as the slope is often too gradual to cause water to continuously flow. The climate of the region is warm and humid with an average yearly rainfall of 46 inches.

The Coastal Zone or Coast is an area of land at the edge of the Ocean extending from the North Carolina to the Georgia border that is about ten miles wide. Of all the regions of South Carolina, the Coast is the most dynamic. The salinity of the rivers and wetlands in this region change throughout the day as tides rise and fall. Barrier islands, beaches and salt marshes will change in size and shape as waves and ocean currents erode and deposit sand. Because of sea breezes and proximity to the Ocean, the Coast tends to be cooler than areas even just a few miles more inland from the Coast. The Coast tends to be warm and humid with abundant rainfall.

Habitats
Each of these regions support unique habitats. Mountain streams are a unique habitat in South Carolina. Found only in the mountains of the northwest corner of South Carolina, this habitat makes up only two percent of the state's freshwater habitats. The water in these streams is provided by abundant rainfall and groundwater springs. These streams erode away the soil in their beds leaving a rocky bottom. The water of mountain streams tends to be cool in temperature, clean and highly oxygenated, because the water falling over rocks collects air. Streams tend to be shallow with areas of rapid-moving water and slower-moving pools. Many plants and animals can be found along the banks of mountain streams.

Receiving water from the Mountains as well as the Piedmont, Piedmont rivers flow rapidly with a large volume of water. Though they flow through an area much flatter than the Mountains, these rivers have the force to erode away the clay of the soil and create valleys. The eroded red clay particles give the Piedmont rivers their murky, red coloration. These rivers are cool, well-oxygenated and composed of riffles, rapids and pools. In certain parts of the river where the water flows slower, sediment can be deposited to form sand flats and even islands. Many plants and animals are associated with the Piedmont river habitat.

Blackwater swamps occur in the Coastal Plain. Because of the flatness of this region, the blackwater rivers are slow-moving and follow a winding, meandering path. When rainfall amounts are high, the water in these rivers floods over the banks into the woods and creates the swamp habitat. Depending on rainfall amounts this swamp habitat can last a few days or a few months. The still, warm water of blackwater swamps is filled with organic material and provides habitat for a number of plants and animals.

Saltmarshes are found throughout the Coastal Zone anywhere saltwater brought in by the tides floods over the land. These marshes exist within a couple miles of the coastline. The twice daily flooding by the tides of salty water makes this a difficult habitat for plants. Only a handful of plants can grow in this environment, but those that can grow there flourish. Along with rainforests and the kelp forest, the saltmarsh is one of the most productive habitats on earth as far as producing plant matter. The nutrients from these plants create a major food source for many animals. Many aquatic and terrestrial animals can be found in or near a saltmarsh.

The inshore ocean is a body of water that has high salinity and generally stable conditions. Though hurricanes and other major storms can stir up the shallow waters above the continental shelf, ocean waters are generally not affected by the weather. Water temperatures vary only slightly through the year. This shallow water also receives an influx of nutrients from the input of freshwater rivers. The stability of this environment and its high nutrient concentration make the inshore ocean one of the most productive habitats on earth.

Alligators need freshwater to survive and are found in freshwater swamps, marshes, impoundments, lakes, ponds and the backwaters of large rivers. Alligators are cold-blooded, aquatic animals that depend on the sun for warmth and freshwater aquatic habitats for food. For this reason, they are found only in the Southeastern United States, where the climate is warm and water is plentiful. Alligators need at least pond-sized bodies of water to move around with as well as areas of land easily accessible for basking in the sun.

Adult alligators feed on fish, turtles, aquatic birds, water snakes and small mammals. Many alligators also feed on carrion. Alligators are carnivores, but they are also opportunistic feeders, and will not turn down an easy meal.

Because alligators are very large animals with hard scales for protection, they do not have any natural predators as adults. For this reason, shelter is not as much of a requirement for alligators as it is for other animals. They do need to protect themselves from the elements, though, so during droughts or the winter they will dig holes in the ground, called dens, to stay warm or to find moisture.

Alligators are often found in the day basking in the sun on the shore of some body of water. Unable to maintain a constant body temperature, alligators depend on external sources to raise or lower their body temperature. Absorbing sunlight warms the alligator and prepares it for evening hunting. If it becomes too warm, it will move to the water to cool off. In the winter when temperatures drop, alligators go into a semi-dormant state, and generally do not become active again until March.

Female alligators are very protective mothers. In June the female builds a mound made of dirt and vegetation about seven feet in diameter and one to two feet in height. In the middle of this mound she digs a hole and lays 15 to 80 eggs. This nest acts as an incubator that keeps temperatures for the eggs in the upper eighties. During this time, the mother watches the nest with a protective eye and keeps hungry predators away. When the eggs begin hatching in September, the mother helps the young by digging them out of the nest and gently carrying some of the young in her jaws to the water. It is amazing that jaws capable of exerting 3,500 pounds of pressure per square inch on a prey item can be used for such delicate actions. For up to a year the mother will stay with the young to protect them from predators. During this time, the young alligators feed on insects, crayfish and frogs.

Bald Cypress Tree
A relative of the giant redwoods of the Pacific coast, bald cypress trees attain greater bulk and live longer than any other native South Carolina tree. Like other plants, cypress trees need air, water, nutrients and sunlight. The special adaptations of bald cypress trees allow them to grow in spaces that other trees cannot. While quite capable of surviving when planted in a variety of upland situations, cypress primarily occur in blackwater river floodplains and backwaters. Cypress trees are the most dominant woody plants of this environment. Cypress develop swollen bases with a conical, buttressed shape. This expanded trunk creates more surface area for the tree. This extra surface area allows oxygen to be brought into the tree when the roots are submerged by water. The height of the base usually exceeds the highwater flood level by about one third, an important adaptation for a tree living in an area that is annually flooded.

In most growing conditions, bald cypress trees develop vertical root projections called knees, which may reach six feet or more in height. The purpose of the knees is still being researched. It has been speculated that the knees may act as a snorkel to bring oxygen to the submerged roots, as an anchor to provide added stability to a large tree with a shallow root system, and/or as a refrigerator to store food in the form of starch for use by the plant. At this time, research has not produced conclusive evidence and the purpose of the knees remains a mystery.

Cypress trees are gymnosperms, cone-bearing plants. The seed-bearing cones grow to about one inch in diameter. Both cones and their seeds can float in water, which serves as their main mechanism of dispersal in the swamps. Seedlings cannot germinate when submerged, and those inundated for only a short time die. Therefore, cypress regeneration occurs only on the higher edges and ridges of swamps. Mature trees now growing in standing water began growing long ago, up to centuries earlier, when the river's position differed enough to create seasonally dry conditions.

Brook Trout
The top native predator living in the mountain stream is the brook trout. This colorful fish is not a true trout at all, but a char. Brook trout are native to eastern North America where they range from Maine to northern Georgia and Alabama, and west to Minnesota. They are also found in Canada from Labrador to Saskatchewan.

The presence of brook trout indicates high-quality streams. Brook trout require low water temperature (less than 70 degrees) and moving water with lots of oxygen. Brook trout prefer water temperatures between 54 and 60 degrees, but they cannot live in water over 69 degrees. Confined to a narrow range of oxygen concentration, these fish are very sensitive to water quality changes. The addition of too much sediment from runoff or toxic materials in the stream will eliminate the brook trout.

Adult brook trout migrate downstream to feed in larger streams, but migrate back upstream in order to spawn. For successful reproduction, these fish require a gravel bottom in shallow water where the eggs are laid. The eggs remain dormant for 90 to 210 days depending on the severity of the winter. When the water begins to warm, the young brook trout hatch and move to very shallow, rapidly-flowing water called riffles. These areas, only one to six inches deep, provide shelter from larger predators that cannot swim into such shallow water. Feeding primarily on caddis fly larvae (Pycnopsyche sp.), first year fish seldom exceed three inches in length. Adult brook trout vary in size depending on the size of the stream. In small streams, they can be six inches long and weigh only two to three ounces. In larger streams and rivers, mature brook trout can reach 18 inches or more and weigh several pounds. In the mid 1800's, before fishing pressure became great and other species were introduced, brook trout weighing eight pounds were not uncommon.

Compared to other trout species, brook trout have a short life span of only four to five years. Adults prefer the slower stretches of streams - particularly undercut banks where they can easily ambush their favorite food, the mayfly. Besides mayfly, brook trout feed on other aquatic insects and arthropods.

Brook trout populations have receded because of overfishing, loss of habitat and introduction of non-native trout species. The European brown trout and the Western American rainbow trout have been introduced into mountain streams of South Carolina. Because they occupy a similar niche to the brook trout, they compete with the brook trout for food and space. There is not enough food and space to sustain large populations of all three species, and so brook trout numbers have declined.

Gag Grouper
One of a dozen grouper species inhabiting tropical and subtropical American ocean waters, the gag ranges from North Carolina to the Yucatan. Like other fish, gag breathe oxygen that they pull out of the water using their gills. Gag live more than thirty miles offshore in warm waters. The gag averages two to four pounds although it can reach 50 pounds. Favored habitat includes rocky live bottoms, areas where rocky outcrops extend out of the sand and are covered with invertebrate growth, generally in water from 122 to 300 feet deep. Gag tend to be territorial, finding a space in a reef habitat that they claim as their own. The rocky reefs provide plenty of food to the gag, as well as providing cover and shelter when needed. The gag feeds mainly on small fish, particularly grunts, squid and reef-dwelling crustaceans such as crabs and shrimp.

Female gag groupers mature sexually at five to six years of age and spawn in water over 200 feet deep. The eggs and planktonic larvae that hatch are carried inshore to the estuaries by eddies spinning off the Gulf Stream. Juvenile gag move inshore into salt marshes to feed primarily on grass shrimp and mature. Within a few months they will reach lengths of up to twelve inches and will begin to swim offshore to the live bottom reefs. Typical of the grouper family, this fish has a long life expectancy and tends to remain in its preferred habitat and behave territorially.

During the spring, many gags migrate to southern Florida to spawn in a narrow area of ocean water. They congregate together in large groups and release their eggs and sperm into the water where fertilization occurs externally. Adult gags then migrate back to their original territory, and the eggs eventually hatch and the current carries the gag larvae into estuaries.

Great Egret
Great egrets are wading birds, like herons and storks, and are a common sight in the salt marshes of South Carolina. Egrets can be found throughout the year in the warm, coastal areas of the Southeast. During the summer, egrets can migrate and may be found in shallow water habitats throughout the continental United States. They wade through shallow-water looking for aquatic animals to eat. They feed predominately upon small fish, but will also eat crabs, shrimp, amphibians, snakes, insects and other small animals spotted in the water.

Their body shapes are ideal for fishing in shallow water. They stand in the water motionless on their long, spindly legs. When prey is spotted, they swiftly bring down their sharp beaks with their long, flexible necks and snatch up their prey. Despite spending much of their time on the ground wading in shallow water, egrets have large, strong wings. If humans or other potentially dangerous animals approach, egrets will spread their wings and fly off to safer ground.

Egrets nest in trees, sometimes building nests forty feet in the air. Nests are built out of reeds and sticks and will contain up to five or six eggs. Egrets nest in colonies known as heronies, and it is not unusual to see twenty or thirty egrets roosting together in one tree.

Largemouth Bass
Largest of the sunfish family, largemouth bass average two to three pounds, but regularly reach more than ten pounds. A voracious predator, the largemouth skulks in shadows ambushing unsuspecting prey. With a quick open-mouthed lunge, this robust fish swallows smaller fishes, frogs, small snakes, ducklings and anything else it can catch. Dull, greenish-gray on the back, with vertical dark, broken bars on the sides, and white below, largemouth bass thrive in slow streams, ponds, lakes and reservoirs with high water quality. Because of their propensity for slow moving water, they have easily made the transition from Piedmont rivers to dammed reservoirs.

Adult bass feed mostly on small fish, especially juvenile sunfish, and sometimes attempt to consume fish too large to swallow. Largemouth generally shun bright light by hiding in the shadows of submerged logs or under vegetation such as lily pads. They become very attached to structures such as stumps, brush piles and other debris. They use them for cover and shelter and seldom stray. They forage most actively at dawn and dusk.

Unlike striped bass and white bass, largemouth stick to shallow edges and avoid deeper, open water. The extensive edges of Piedmont reservoirs provide ample habitat for largemouth bass, which sometimes reach high populations. They can also be found in the pools of Piedmont rivers. Although they prefer clear, high-quality water, they can adapt to a wide variety of temperature, depth, clarity and even changing salinity in the upper reaches of coastal rivers.

Lemon Shark
Lemon sharks are found in the Western Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey to Brazil. They are a common species that adapt well to aquariums and so are often used by biologists researching sharks. Lemon sharks are named such because of the yellowish tint of their skin. The adults of the species average about eight feet in length though they can reach eleven feet.

Lemon sharks prefer warm, shallow waters and will often swim in schools. While some sharks need to continue swimming in order to breathe, the lemon shark does not, and can often be found lying on the sandy bottom. Lemon sharks are active both day and night and feed on fish, rays, squid, crustaceans and the occasional seabird. Lemon sharks sometimes make long migrations while searching for food. While not aggressive towards man, they can be dangerous if provoked.

Oyster
Oysters are bivalve mollusks, the group of animals with soft bodies and a hard shell that is separated into two parts and hinged together so that they may open and close. Oysters do well in low to medium salinity water. In South Carolina they thrive in the zone between low and high tide in estuaries and saltmarshes. This is an anomaly for the South Carolina area. In other states, oysters are not in the intertidal zone, but are always covered by ocean water, sometimes as deep as forty feet. Scientist are not sure why this difference occurs in South Carolina, but the oysters that live subtidally in the state have very slim survival chances.

Oysters are sessile animals, meaning they attach themselves to a hard surface and remain there their entire lives. Usually the hard surface is another oyster shell. In their larval stages, oysters are free swimming. As they move around, the larvae have chemical sensors that can detect the presence of other oyster shells. When the larva finds an oyster shell, it attaches itself to the shell and begins to form shell material of its own. The clumps of oysters that attach themselves to each other are known as oyster beds.

Oysters are filter feeders that get their food by pumping water through their bodies and straining out organic matter. When covered by the tides, a single oyster can strain about seven gallons of water a day. They feed on microorganisms and detritus (broken down pieces of plant and animal matter). Filter feeding makes oysters vulnerable to contaminants in the water. Bacteria or toxins in the water can collect in the oyster's body as it feeds. Excess sediment can smother the oyster. To remain healthy, oysters need to be in clean, uncontaminated water. Oysters, like many marine animals, have gills that allow them to pull the oxygen they need right out of the water.

River Otter
The largest mammal predator in the mountain stream, the river otter, occurs throughout North America except for the extreme northern portion of Alaska, the Southwest desert and the arid Plains states. Locally common in South Carolina, it ranges across the state in virtually all freshwater and estuarine aquatic habitats. A member of the weasel family, the otter has short legs with webbed toes, a broad tail, and an elongated body. An adult otter will grow from three-and-half to four feet in length and weigh from ten to twenty-five pounds. Social animals, otters travel within a home range of 15 square miles in family units of four to five individuals.

Uniquely adapted to its aquatic environment, the otter has webbed toes, a water repellant coat, and the ability to close its ears and nostrils while diving. The otter also has long whiskers that help it to detect prey underwater. These adaptations allow the animal to exist chiefly on a diet of fish, which they catch with their superior underwater swimming skills. Otters are also known to eat frogs, turtles, snakes, crayfish and an occasional bird.

Beavers are very important to otters. If beavers frequent a particular area, there is a good chance that otters will also be found there. The ponds created by beaver dams are prime habitat for the otter. Otters often use the abandoned dens of beavers as shelters. If a beaver den is not available, they also may be found in hollow trees or between rocks or roots, building nests out of sticks, leaves and grass.

Otters are active and curious. They spend much of their time playing with each other and exploring their environment. While other animals may play to practice hunting and survival skills, otters often play for pure enjoyment, a rare trait in animals and usually a sign of higher intelligence.

Mating takes place in the fall after rival males battle for a mate. After a gestation period of up to 270 days, the female otter gives birth to one to three young, called kits, in a den with an underwater entrance constructed beneath the bank of a stream, river or lake. The mother otter defends her kits fiercely and they remain with her as a family unit for over a year.

The otter has few natural enemies other than man, who trap it for its rich, thick pelt, and who also have lowered populations through habitat destruction and roadkill. Look for otters in larger streams or rivers where food is abundant and the water is unpolluted and quiet. The best time to look is early morning or evening.

Spartina Grass
The dominant plant of the saltmarsh, Spartina grass, is a large, coarse grass that can reach heights of up to ten feet. Spartina grass lives in saltmarshes, which endure high swings in salinity as the tide comes in and out twice daily. This plant solves the problems of survival in this hostile environment through a unique set of adaptations. Most plants cannot grow in a saline environment because their cells have a low salt content. When these plants are immersed into saltwater, the difference in salt content between the cells of the plant and the surrounding water pushes water out of the cells and desiccates the plant. Spartina, however, concentrates salt within its cells to a higher level than seawater, so that freshwater actually moves into the cells, not out. In addition, special cells in the leaves of Spartina have the ability to secrete excess salt, often visible as salt crystals on the plant's exterior.

Spartina, like other plants, has to get oxygen into its roots as well as its leaves. Because Spartina grows in standing water, it has developed special adaptations to do so. The wet marsh soil contains a minimum of oxygen, and the abundant bacteria found in the soil consume the little oxygen available. Spartina grass has evolved a special system of hollow tubes that runs from leaf openings, called stomata, down to the roots to move carbon dioxide from the air through diffusion to the roots, and to allow oxygen produced by photosynthesis to escape. Like other plants, Spartina grass needs direct sunlight in order to be able to make the food it needs to survive. Because it is the only plant that can grow in the spaces of the salt marsh, it does not have other plants competing for the space and blocking out the sunlight.

While Spartina can grow in other habitats, it cannot compete successfully with other plants and so is rarely found outside of the saltmarsh. In the saltmarsh, though, it reigns supreme. Its special adaptations to this saltwater-soaked habitat have allowed it to flourish there, and a habitat that is hostile to most plant life is filled with lush vegetation.

Habitat-Animal matches
Mountain stream: Brook trout, river otter
Piedmont river: Largemouth bass, river otter
Blackwater swamp: Largemouth bass, river otter, American alligator, great egret
Salt marsh: Spartina grass, gag grouper (juvenile), great egret, river otter
Ocean: Gag grouper, lemon shark

Scoring Rubric (Out of 5 points)

Social Studies Extension
Have students look at a physical map of South Carolina to determine what region they live in What habitats are near them? What animals can be found in these habitats? How have people changed or used these habitats?

Teacher Reference Books
Blagden, Tom Jr. and Thomas Wyche. South Carolina's Mountain Wilderness: The Blue Ridge Escarpment, Westcliffe Publishers, Inc, Colorado, 1994.
Explore the mountain habitats of South Carolina through the use of photographs.

Grade Level	Standards
Kindergarten	K-1.1, K-1.3, K-1.4, K-2.1, K-2.2, K-2.4
1st Grade	1-1.1, 1-2.1, 1-2.5
2nd Grade	2-1.1, 2-1.3, 2-1.4, 2-2.1, 2-2.3, 2-2.4
* Bold standards are the main standards addressed in this activity.

K-1.1	Identify observed objects or events by using the senses.
K-1.3	Predict and explain information or events based on observation or previous experience.
K-1.4	Use appropriate safety procedures when conducting investigations.
K-2.1	Recognize what organisms need to stay alive. (including air, water, food, and shelter)
K-2.2	Identify examples of organisms and non-living things.
K-2.4	Compare individual examples of a particular type of plant or animal to determine that there are differences among individuals.

1-1.1	Compare, classify, and sequence objects by number, shape, texture, size, color, and motion, using standard English units of measurement where appropriate.
1-2.1	Recall the basic needs of plants (including air, water, nutrients, space, and light) for energy and growth.
1-2.5	Explain how distinct environments throughout the world support the life of different plants.

2-1.1	Carry out simple scientific investigations to answer questions about familiar objects and events.
2-1.3	Represent and communicate simple data and explanations through drawings, tables, pictographs, bar graphs, and oral and written language.
2-1.4	Infer explanations regarding scientific observations and experiences.
2-2.1	Recall the basic needs of animals including air, water, food, and shelter for energy, growth, and production.
2-2.3	Explain how distinct environments throughout the world support the life of different types of animals.
2-2.4	Summarize the interdependence between animals and plants as sources of food and shelter.