What I've Learned About Plankton

Thursday 2/14





I've learned many things about plankton this week, but I'll condense it to 5 main points. Unlike what I have believed my whole life, plankton are the world's main source of oxygen, not trees. They produce 80% of the Earth's oxygen. One reason why they are so important is that they are at the bottom of the food chain in the ocean. Without them the pyramid would fall apart. And lastly it improves immune function and brain health. Diatoms are single alga that has a cell wall of silica. Dinoflagellates are a single celled organism with two flagella and a cellulose covering. They form one of the chief constituents of plankton. Some dinoflagellates cause harmful effects on marine life because of the toxins they carry. Lastly, there are two main types of plankton, phytoplankton and zooplankton. Zooplankton are microscopic invertebrate animals that swim or drift in water while phytoplankton are microscopic plants in the ocean.