Habitats: Mesopelagic, Bathypelagic, Abyssopelagic, Hadalpelagic Zones

One of my favorite topics EVER in Science Club was when we did the Ocean Zones. We turned five rooms of my house into exhibits, with each one being a Zone, and we even had a life-size construction paper giant squid with 40 foot long tentacles that reached up the stairs and wrapped around the hallway. Its eyeball was the illustration from Actual Size by Steve Jenkins!

I'm not including the Sunlight Zone here (Epipelagic), but Twilight and lower. Here are the books I've found. Let me know if you know of others!

In Waldorf, Ecology (and all of its complexities) is generally an 8th grade Science topic, but I think you can also study these habitats earlier if your child is into them. There's even an early reader by National Geographic!

"The deep sea has been in total darkness since there were first oceans on Earth, yet it is the planet's largest habitat." Scary Creatures of the Deep, p.5

---

The Zones of the Ocean

Common Name	Scientific Name	Depth in Meters
Sunlight	Epipelagic	0 - 200 m
Twilight	Mesopelagic	200 - 1000 m
Midnight	Bathypelagic	1000 - 4000 m
Abyss	Abyssopelagic	4000 - 6000 m
Trench	Hadalpelagic	6000 m and below

---

Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor
by Robert Burleigh

Actual Size
by Steve Jenkins
giant squid

Giant Squid
by Candace Fleming

Living Color
by Steve Jenkins
deep-sea dragonfish

Look at Me! How to Attract Attention in the Animal World
by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
deep-sea dragonfish

in the swim: poems and paintings
by Douglas Florian
"The Anglerfish" (page 34)

What's Up, What's Down?
by Lola Schaefer
layers of ooze on the ocean floor

Tiny Monsters: The Strange Creatures That Live On Us, In Us, and Around Us by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
marine scale worm

Pink Is For Blobfish: Discovering the World's Perfectly Pink Animals
by Jess Keating
blobfish

What Makes a Monster: Discovering the World's Scariest Creatures
by Jess Keating

Humboldt squid
goblin shark

Gross as a Snot Otter: Discovering the World's Most Disgusting Animals
by Jess Keating

sea cucumber
hagfish
zombie worm

Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems
by Kate Coombs

oarfish
gulper eel

Eye to Eye: How Animals See The World
by Steve Jenkins

colossal squid
brownsnout spookfish

Flying Frogs and Walking Fish: Leaping Lemurs, Tumbling Toads, Jet-Propelled Jellyfish, and More Surprising Ways That Animals Move
by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

vampire squid
sea pig

Trickiest! 19 Sneaky Animals
by Steve Jenkins

deep-sea hairy angler
stoplight loose jaw

Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea
by Steve Jenkins

chambered nautilus
oarfish
goblin shark
snipe eel
vampire squid
siphonophore
hatchet fish
viperfish
pram bug
pelican eel
deep-sea jellyfish
arrow worm
deep-sea shrimp
deep-sea lizardfish
hairy angler
loosejaw stoplight fish
black swallower
fangtooth / ogrefish
sperm whale
giant squid
comb jelly
swimming sea cucumber
tripod fish
sea lily
hagfish
vent crab
mussel
giant tube worm
vent octopus
eelpout
shrimp
worm
flatfish

National Geographic Readers: Weird Sea Creatures
by Laura Marsh
early reader level 2

Dumbo octopus
viperfish
hatchet fish
comb jelly
black dragonfish
gulper eel
cookie-cutter shark
anglerfish
sea cucumber
hagfish
tube worm
blobfish

Scary Creatures of the Deep
by Jim Pope

gulper eel
viperfish
deep-sea chimaera
giant squid
sperm whale
deep-sea eel
anglerfish
sea cucumber
snailfish
hammerhead shark
luminous prawn
deep-sea shrimp
barreleye fish
lantern fish
oarfish
brittle star
worm
limpet
rattail
spiny eel
siphonophore
deep-sea glass squid
piglet squid
sea angel
vampire squid
deep-sea anglerfish
fangtooth / ogrefish
scaly dragonfish
deep-sea squid
hatchetfish
Greenland shark
comb jelly
giant tube worm
scaleworm
vent shrimp
snipe eel

Monster Sea Creatures Coloring Book
by Diana Zourelias

blobfish
deep-sea anglerfish
deep-sea gulper eel
deep-sea lizardfish
fangtooth fish
frilled shark
giant squid
goblin shark
hagfish
hairy angler fish
hatchetfish
nautilus
viperfish

Creepy Creatures
by Sneed B. Collard III

giant squid
gulper eel
viper fish

The Deep-Sea Floor
by Sneed B. Collard III

tripod fish
copepod
crinoid
vampire squid
brittle star
galatheid crab / squat lobster
Pompeii worm
spider crab
panaeid shrimp
deep-sea urchin
deep-sea squid
sea cucumber
sea anemone
sea pen
deep-sea coral
cirrate octopus
rattail
chimaerid
loose jaw
mussel
crab
giant clam
limpet
giant tube worm / vestimentiferan worm

The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss
by Claire Nuvian
a coffee table book with extraordinary pictures; a must-have!

If you have the resources to print documents in full-color, you might like this Walking into the Deep lesson plan (PDF) from the Georgia Aquarium. It focuses on the animals of the sunlight, twilight, midnight, and abyssal zones. I like the sorting activity! The language is written for 2nd graders.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!