The document summarizes habitats along Georgia's coast. It notes that Georgia's coast is located at the southern end of the state where land meets the ocean, consisting of barrier islands and sandy beaches. It describes key features like dunes that were originally formed by hardy plants and serve as habitat for migratory birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals. The organisms that live in the coastal habitat have adapted to withstand harsh conditions like crashing waves, hot sun, and cold winters. Examples of coastal animals include ghost shrimp, mole crabs, coquina clams, raccoons, and shorebirds. Coastal plants that grow on sand dunes to prevent erosion include sea oats, morning glory, and prickly

1. Georgia Habitats: Coast
3rd Grade Life Science
Standard: S3L1a

2. Standards
Life Science S3L1. Students will investigate the habitats of different
organisms and the dependence of organisms on their habitat.
a. Differentiate between habitats of Georgia (mountains,
marsh/swamp, coast, Piedmont,Atlantic Ocean) and the
organisms that live there.
b. Identify features of green plants that allow them to live and thrive
in different regions of Georgia.
c. Identify features of animals that allow them to live and thrive in
different regions of Georgia.
d. Explain what will happen to an organism if the habitat is changed.

3. The Coast

4. Location:
• Georgia’s coast is located at the
bottom of the state, where land
meets ocean.

5. This area is made up of the barrier islands
and sandy beaches.
Features

6. More Features
Dunes are the front lines of island building.
At some point, all barrier islands started as
sand dunes that were colonized by hardy
plants.

7. More Features
The sea serves as critical habitat for many
migratory oceanic birds, sea turtles, and
marine mammals, including the endangered
right whale that calves in Georgia waters
December through February.

8. Organisms on the coast
These organisms that live here have adapted to the harsh
conditions of the beaches.They must be able to withstand the
crashing waves and survive the hot sun and wind an the freezing
cold winters

9. Animals that live on the coast
• Ghost shrimp
• Mole crabs
• Coquina clams
• Raccoons
• Shorebirds

10. Coast Animals

11. Plants that live here
Due to the force of the crashing waves, plant life is not found on
the beach but on the sand dunes.

12. These plants include but are not limited to:
• Sea Oats
• Morning Glory
• Prickly pear cactus
• These plants help to present the break down of the land
(erosion).

13. Coast Plants