Energy Pyramid

What is energy? Energy is the ability to do work. You use energy for everything you do. It is needed for all life processes, such as breathing, moving, growing, etc.

The Movement of Energy The ultimate source of energy for almost every living thing is the Sun. Living things do not create energy. Energy is just passed from one organism to another.

From the Sun to Producers Plants use the Sun’s energy to make food. They use most of the energy from (stored in) their food to grow, reproduce, etc. Around 90% of the energy they take in from food is used up by life processes. The energy that is not used by the plant is stored in the plant to be used later. This is around 10%.

From Producers to Primary Consumers When primary consumers eat plants, they receive the energy that was stored in the plant (10%). Primary consumers, herbivores, use 90% of this energy to move, grow , and for all of the other processes necessary to stay alive. The energy that is not used up is stored in their bodies. (10% of the original 10%)

From Primary Consumers to Secondary Consumers (and so on) When secondary consumers eat primary consumers, they receive the energy that was stored in those organisms. They use this energy to move and grow and for all of the other processes necessary to stay alive. (~90%) The energy that is not used up is stored in their bodies. (~10%)

Later, this energy is passed on to tertiary consumers, when the tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumers. This energy is eventually passed on to decomposers when the tertiary consumers die.

9 kc 90 kc 10% of the energy is passed on 900 kc 9, 000 kc

Energy Pyramid

Energy Pyramid An energy pyramid is a diagram that shows the amount of energy at each level of a food chain. The bottom of the pyramid shows the producers. The producers hold the most energy in an ecosystem. The upper levels show the consumers.

Energy Pyramid The shape of the diagram represents two things: the decrease in the amount of energy moving from producers to primary consumers to secondary consumers to tertiary consumers the decrease in the number of organisms in an ecosystem as you move up the food chain. Video

Energy Pyramid

Questions Why is there less energy available to move from one level to the next?

The reason there is less energy available from one level to the next is because most (90%) of the energy taken in is used up by organisms to carry out life processes. Only about 10% of the energy taken in is passed on to the next level.

Why would an ecosystem have fewer organisms as you move up the food chain? 2. If there is less energy passed on to each level, then there is not enough energy to support a lot of organisms at the higher levels.

What happens when populations of organisms increase or decrease dramatically? If a population increases dramatically, the organisms will run out of food and starve. If a population decreases dramatically, the predators will run out of food and starve. Let’s take a look! interface

Complete an energy pyramid using animals from the following website Antarctica Teachers—X the ads!

Let’s review! Food Chain Review Game Chain Reaction Game

Surprising Carnivores Class Quiz Doughnut Decomposition Watermelon Decomposition