energy+pyramid

= = = = =**Revised and Edited by Mr. D 11/16/11 **= = = = **Energy Pyramid** =






 * As you can see the biggest animal (the owl) would be the last consumer (tertiary consumer) This is because **


 * biggest animal eats the small animal which eats the producers so the primary **


 * gets alot of energy and the tertiary only gets a little energy of the original energy from the sun. **


 * Questions about the Energy Pyramid: **


 * 1. The amount of energy at the top of the Energy Pyramid is much less than the energy that comes from the sun. Where does the energy go? **


 * The energy goes back into the environment and atmosphere. As the pyramid advances in an upward direction, **** the amount of energy slightly decreases every time. The producer uses and releases some energy before being consumed by the primary consumer. The primary consumer also wastes some of the remaining energy before being eaten by the secondary consumer, and on the pyramid goes in that same pattern. **


 * 2. Write down the animals in the pyramid above from smallest population to largest population. **

**Sm allest Population: Owl (Tertiary Consumer) ** **Insect (Primary Consumer)** **Vole (Secondary Consumer)** **Largest Population: Grass (Producer)**


 * What would happen if there were more animals at the top of the pyramid? **

**If there were more animals at the top of the pyramid, there would be a decrease in the population of the consumers in the middle of the pyramid. The middle links would be eaten by the organisms at the top of the chain. There would be an increase in the producers (bottom of the pyramid) because there wouldn't be any rodents and insects left to consume them. Eventually, there would not be any primary and secondary consumers left, so the animals at the top would starve to death.**


 * 3. What direction is the Energy traveling in the picture above? **


 * In the picture above, the Energy is traveling upwards. The primary consumer eats the producer and the producer is at the bottom of the pyramid, so the energy is traveling up the diagram to the second level, the primary consumer. **


 * 4. What are things that work in helping you understand the ecosystem in the Energy Pyramid above? **


 * The simple layout of the animation ( the pyramid decreasing at each higher level ) helps me understand how the population and amount of energy within each organism. It also helps me understand the particular names of each orgamism ( producer, secondary consumer) and which consumer eats which consumer. **


 * 5. What are things that are missing or could be improved in the model of the Energy Pyramid above? **

**There are a couple of objects that are missing or could be improved in the model of the Energy Pyramid above. They could add an energy rate on the side and at each level have a different shade of yellow representing the amount of energy the organism roughly has. Another improvement could be to add decomposers into the pyramid and to be more general about the species at each level in the pyramid.**

= **Links** =

**[|Introduction]**

[|Energy Pyramids]

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=** Games **=

Energy Pyramid Review

= **By Samuel Ralph Turner** =