Name______________________________________________________ Date: ________
Period:
1
2
3
4
5
6
Activity Ecological Pyramids-Directions Sheet
Background: You have learned several different ways to describe how energy is passed through
an ecosystem. The Food-Web Terms describe whether an organism produces or consumes food
for energy, and an organism’s Feeding Strategy categorizes organisms based on what they eat.
However, there one more way to talk about energy transfer within an ecosystem: The Tropic
Levels.
Trophic = ____________________, Trophic Levels: _____________________________
Auto = __________________, so Autotroph: ___________________________________
Hetero = __________________, so Heterotroph: _______________________________
Food Web Terms
Producer
Feeding Strategies
Trophic Levels
Primary Consumer
Secondary Consumer
Tertiary Consumer
Objectives: Students will demonstrate the relationships among organisms by organizing them
into energy pyramids.
Materials:

Copy of Pyramids Directions sheet

Copy of the Pyramid form

Colored Pencils: green, yellow, blue and red

Glue
Procedure:
1. Obtain:
o A copy of the pyramid form
o Scissors
o Colored pencils: green, yellow, blue and red
o Glue
Coloring the Pyramid:
2. Use colored pencils to shade the bottom level of the pyramid green.
3. Shade the second level of the pyramid yellow.
4. Shade the third level of the pyramid blue.
5. Shade the top level of the pyramid red.
Labeling the Pyramid:
6. Label the first side of each level with the following terms as you move up the pyramid:
producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer.
7. Label the second side of each level of the pyramid with the following terms as you move
up the pyramid: plants, herbivores, carnivores, top carnivores.
8. Label the third side of each level of the pyramid with the following terms as you move up
the pyramid: autotroph, 1st order heterotroph, 2nd order heterotroph, 3rd order
heterotroph.
9. Draw a picture of the following in each level, on all 3 sides:
o 1st: flowers, trees, grass, algae
o 2nd: caterpillars, cows, grasshoppers, beetles
o 3rd: human, birds, frogs
o 4th: lions, dogs, snakes
Calculating the Energy and the Biomass of the Pyramid
10. Label the fourth side of the pyramid starting at the largest section as you move up:
100% of energy, 10% of energy, 1% of energy, 0.1% of energy.
11. Label the bottom row of the fourth side of the pyramid with 35,000 Kg of biomass.
Calculate and label the amount of biomass at each of the upper levels.
12. Fold your pyramid on the lines radiating from the center and glue it together using the
extra flaps.
13. Answer the Discussion Questions on the next page
Discussion Questions:
1. What are three different terms (from the pyramid) that describe a tree?
2. What are three terms different terms (from the pyramid) that describe a cow?
3. What are three different terms (from the pyramid) that describe a human?
4. What are three different terms (from the pyramid) that describe a lion?
5. What do the organisms in each trophic level eat?
6. Do organisms always stay on the same level? Explain your answer.
7. How much energy transfers from one level to the next?
8. Why does only this much energy transfer to the next level?
9. What happens to the energy that does not transfer to the next level?
10. 34 Kg is about the mass of an underclassman. What inferences can you make about
yourself using the pyramid?
11. Why is it more ecologically friendly to eat a salad than a steak?