Name __________________________Class___________________Date__________________
Skills Worksheet- Science Skills- Interpreting Graphics
Use the figure below, which shows the food web of an aquatic ecosystem, to complete items 1–7.
In the food web above, there are more than eight food chains that include krill. In the space provided,
identify all of the organisms in the order in which they occur in four of these food chains.
1. Chain 1: Algae  KRILL  Cod  Leopard Seals  Killer Whales
2. Chain 2: Algae …  Killer Whale (your food chain requires starting at a producer, going through krill, and
ending with a top consumer. In this case that is the killer whale)
3. Chain 3: Algae …  Killer Whale
4. Chain 4: Algae …  Killer Whale
5. In the aquatic food web shown on page 16, which organisms do cod eat?
Krill, Small animals & protists, algae,
6. List all the organisms that eat squid.
Elephant & Leopard seals, Killer whales.
7. How many producers are in the food web? Name them.
1: Algae
8. Using the diagram above, which of the following best describe Leopard seals?
a. Leopard seal are omnivores that get their energy from killer whales.
b. Leopard seals are carnivores that can obtain energy from penguins.
c. Leopard seals are autotrophs that obtain energy from squid.
d. Leopard seals are producers whom obtain energy directly from algae.
9. Which series shows a correct path of energy flow in a marine food chain?
a. cod  krill  algae
c. algae  leopard seal krill
b. cod  leopard seal krill
d. algae krill cod
10. Use one of your food chains from questions 1-4.
___algae__ ___krill_____ ___Adelie penguin____ ___killer whales____
11. Label the block of:
a. Producers.
Label the pyramid with organisms from your food chain.
b. Herbivores
c. Carnivores
d. Top carnivores
e. Consumers
f. Autotrophs
g. Heterotrophs
h. Decomposers/Detritivores
e
c
g
Killer whales
d
e
Leopard seals
c
h
g
g
e
Krill
g
a
e
f
Algae
12. What is energy?
Energy is the ability to do work. It is the driving force of life. Without energy life cannot exist.
13. Why do organisms eat other organisms?
Organisms store roughly 10% of the energy they consume in their own bodies. So eating partially facilitates growth &
development, however, the main reason an organism eats another is to gain the energy contained in the organism.
14. If there are 10000kcal produced& stored by the 1st trophic level, label how much energy is available for each of the other
trophic levels.
10000 is available to herbivores (like cod), 1000 is available to carnivores (like seals), 100 is available to killer whales.
15. Why is there less energy available to the top of the food chain than lower trophic levels?
As the energy is transferred between trophic levels most is lost to the environment (entropy) in the form of heat. This heat
is caused by the chemical reactions of life (remember activation energy? This is the lost heat, predominantly).
16. ****What does this mean for the organisms at the top of the food chain?****
The organisms at the top of food chains must eat much more mass per pound to gain the energy needed for life. It is,
therefore, much more efficient to eat nothing but plants from an energy perspective. This is the predominant rule for
justifying vegan lifestyles. One must be careful to eat enough protein and fats though, two macromolecules not in high
abundance in vegetables or fruits.