energy+pyramid

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 * __**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. Question - 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? **

Answer - As the energy goes up the pyramid the energy is used and therefore decreases.

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

Answer - Owls, voles, and insects.

** 2b. Question - What would happen if there were more animals at the top of the pyramid? **

Answer - The energy would decrease even more towards the top of the pyramid and the animals at the top would need to eat more animals. Also, the animals at the top of the pyramid above wouldn't have as high of a population.

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

Answer - The energy is traveling up since the animal above eats the animal below.

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

Answer - The energy goes up and decreases like the size of the block of the pyramid the animal is on so the tertiary consumers need to eat more animals to get the amount of energy they need.

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

Answer - The sun is missing and it could be made into a food chain/web to represent things better.

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Additional information - All energy starts with the sun. As the producers (grass, algae, phytoplankton, etc) take in the sun's light, the energy moves to the producers. Then, the primary consumers (grasshopper, mosquito, zooplankton, etc) eat the plants and get energy. Next, the primary consumers get consumed by the secondary consumers (rat, dragonfly, fish, etc). That same thing keeps happening all the way up the pyramid to the tertiary consumers (snake, fish, seal, etc) that have to eat more than primary consumers to get the same amount of energy. This proves that energy amounts decrease as they go up the pyramid (energy decreases since the animals use some energy before they are eaten). Decomposers help break down the matter from the dead animals and help the plants grow. This is why some people think that the ecosystem is best represented in a cyclic form.