8th GRADE INTEGRATED SCIENCE
UNIT: Bioenergy Unit
NAME________________________________
PERIOD_____
ENERGY FLOW THROUGH AN ENERGY PYDRAMID IN AN ECOSYSTEM
(THIS ASSIGMENT MUST BE SUBMITTED TO YOUR TEACHER BEFORE YOU CAN TAKE MAKE-UP QUIZ)
Standard II: Students will understand that energy from sunlight is changed
Part II: YouTube Video
to chemical energy in plants, transfers between living organisms, and that
changing the environment may alter the amount of energy provided to living
organisms.
Watch the YouTube Video “Food Webs and Energy Pyramids” by
following the directions:
 Google “YouTube” and click on the YouTube link.
 In Search Box, “Food Webs and Energy Pyramids”.
 Click on the link “Food Webs & Energy Pyramids” by Shellie
Kerrigan.
 Watch the video and fill in the blanks using the Word Bank. You
may use the words more than once.
Objective 2: Generalize the dependent relationships between organisms.
Lesson Objectives: I can model and diagram the flow of energy in food
chains, food webs, and energy pyramids.
Vocabulary Words: producer, consumer, herbivore, carnivore, omnivore,
decomposer, food chain, food web, energy, matter, autotroph, heterotroph,
primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, tropic levels,
energy pyramid
Part I: Background About Energy Pyramids
Energy Pyramid
Tertiary
Consumers
Top
Carnivores
Secondary
Consumers
Carnivores
Primary Consumers
Herbivores
Producers
An energy pyramid is a diagram
that show different feeding levels
and how energy is passed from
one feeding level to another in a
food chain.. Producers (bottom)
receive energy from the sun and
make their own food. Primary
consumers (herbivores) eat
producers to get energy. A
secondary consumer (carnivore)
eats a primary consumer to get its
energy. Tertiary consumers or
top carnivores (predators) eat
secondary or primary consumers
to get energy. As organisms eat
other organisms, only 10% of
the energy is passed to the
second organism from the first.
As organisms die, decomposers
use up the energy while breaking
down the dead organisms into
nutrients that return to the soil.
Word Bank
photosynthesis
energy pyramid
decomposers
omnivores
nutrients
food web
ten
herbivores
heterotroph
energy
chemical
more
autotroph
carnivores
food chain
1. A ___________ ____________ is basically a way of showing what eats
what.in an ecosystem.
2. Plants produce glucose through ___________________.
3. When grass, grasshopper, mouse, snake, or hawk dies, _______________
break down these organisms and return the _______________ to the soil.
4. Arrows in a food chain represent _________________ being transferred
from one organism to another through consumption.
5. _______________________ means “self feeding’ or organisms that make
their own food usually during photosynthesis.
6. ________________________ means “other feeders” or consumers that eat
other organisms in order to get energy.
7. Consumers that eat only plants are called __________________.
8. __________________________ are consumers that eat other consumers.
9. Organisms, like humans, that eat both plants and consumers are called
_____________________________.
Page 2
Energy Flow Through An Energy Pyramid In An Ecosystem
10. A ____________________ ____________ is more useful when looking
at all the interactions in an ecosystem.
11. Algae and phytoplankton are the __________________(s) in this food
web.
12. If a disease or population were to drop drastically the ______________
____________ would be okay. The more blue arrows going between
organisms, the more stable a food web is in an ecosystem.
13. The difference between creating chemical energy (photosynthesis) and
using the chemical energy (cellular respiration) is the amount of
___________ available to consumers. The energy available for the
next energy transfer is about _________ per cent and gives us the
10% Rule.
14. The other 90% of the ____________ is used during cellular respiration
and metabolic activities, or lost as heat.
15. An ____________________ _______________ is used to show the
loss of energy.
Part III: Understanding the Vocabulary
Match the vocabulary word(s) with its definition.
_____1. autotroph
_____2. carnivore
_____3. consumer
_____4. decomposer
_____5. energy
_____6. energy pyramid
_____7. food chain
_____8. food web
_____9. herbivore
_____10. heterotroph
_____11. matter
_____12. omnivore
_____13. primary consumer
_____14. producer
_____15. secondary consumer
_____16. tertiary consumer
_____17. trophic levels
17. Producers create 100% _______________ energy, but al lot gets lost
through cellular respiration and heat.
18. Herbivores only receive ______________ per cent of the energy created
by producers.
19. Each level gains _______________ per cent of the energy from the
previous level.
20. There are ____________organisms at the bottom of the energy pyramid
than at the top because of less energy being available.
A. anything that has mass and takes up
space
B. ability to do work or move
C. third trophic level in energy pyramid with
organisms that only eat meat
D. means “other feeder”
E. diagram that shows the links in a food web
from producer to decomposers
F. different feeding levels in energy
Pyramid
G. means “self -feeders”H. another name for a primary consumer
I. energy role where organism eats other
organisms
J. trophic level for top carnivores
K. organism that breaks down dead
organisms into nutrients for the soil
L. energy role where organism makes its
own food
M. diagram that shows the different
feeding levels in a food chain
N. another name for secondary
consumer
O. diagram of interconnecting food
chains
P. name for organism that eats both
producers and consumers (meat)
Q. second trophic level for herbivores
Part IV: Fill-In-The Energy Pyramid
Use the following word list to fill in the blanks on the Energy Pyramid.
You may use the words more than once.
chains
photosynthesis
herbivores
top
plants
primary
diagram
glucose
trophic level
secondary
break
dead
nutrients
omnivores
energy
carnivore
Page 3
Energy Flow Through An Energy Pyramid In An Ecosystem
Decomposers:
Tertiary Consumers
Scavengers:
Secondary Consumers
All living things need the sun’s energy
to survive. Cycle of life begins with
Producers absorbing sunlight.
Primary Consumers
Producers
Energy Pyramid: Organisms use the ____________ released in the food chain to perform all the daily activities through the process of ____________
_________________________. (6O2 + C6H12O6
6CO2 + 6HsO)
Foot Chaim: Series of events where one organisms eats another to obtain _______________. Each level is called a “ t______________” or feeding level.
Food Web: A ________________ showing interconnected and overlapping food _________________ in an ecosystem.
Producers: Make ____________ (C6H12O6) using the sun’s energy through ___________________________ (6CO 2 + 6HsO + sunlight
Primary Consumers: Eat algae, phytoplankton, or ______________ and can be h_________________ or o__________________.
Secondary Consumers: Eat a _____________ consumer, and can be a c______________________ or o______________________.
Tertiary Consumers: Eat ________________ or ____________________
Consumers. Called the “_____________” of the food chain.
Decomposers: Organisms that _____________ down dead things/material and release _________________ into the soil.
Scavenger: Carnivores that eat on ______________ organisms.
6O2 + C6H12O6)
Page 4
Energy Flow Through An Energy Pyramid In An Ecosystem
Part V: 10% Rule

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
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Label the name of each trophic level in the energy pyramid,
To the left of the energy pyramid, write how much energy each trophic level gets from
the sun.
To the right of the energy pyramid, write how much energy is transferred from one
trophic level to the next.
On the right side of this page is a food web. Place the organisms from the food web
into the energy pyramid.
Energy %
from sun
__________
Energy %
from sun
__________
Energy %
from sun
__________
Energy %
from sun
_________
_
Energy passed on
from level before
it
__________ kCal
Energy passed on
from level before
it
__________ kCal
Energy passed on
from level before
it
__________ kCal
10,000 kCal