The Sun gives a field a great deal of energy, and the hawk at the end of the chain gets very little of it. You follow the energy from sunlight to the top consumer, use the ten per cent idea, and draw the pyramids of number, biomass and energy. Then you put the whole chapter together in one energy budget.
3 lessons, about 1 h 25 min3 simulations10 problems3 practice questionsPython in every lesson
Created by StemPy LabEvery living thing needs energy, and nearly all of it comes from the Sun. This lesson follows the energy from sunlight to the plants and along the food chain. It shows why the energy moves one way only. Then it uses the ten per cent idea to say how much reaches each level and why chains are short.
A pyramid is a picture of the trophic levels with the producers at the base. This lesson draws the pyramids of number, biomass and energy. It shows where they are upright and where they are inverted. It explains why the pyramid of energy is never inverted. Then it lists their limits.
This lesson puts the chapter together in one energy budget, from the gross primary productivity to the heat that leaves the ecosystem. A program checks that all the energy is accounted for. Then it lists the usual traps of the chapter, one by one.
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