Lesson 4

Energy Flow in Ecosystems: Ecological Pyramids

Grade: 7
Strand:
Unit B: Interactions within Ecosystems
Big Ideas:
- Ecosystems are made up of biotic (living) and abiotic (non-
living) elements, which depend on each other to survive.
- Ecosystems are in a constant state of change. The changes may
be caused by nature or by human intervention.
- Human activities have the potential to alter the environment.
Humans must be aware of these impacts and try to control them
Overall Expectations:
1. assess the impacts of human activities and technologies on the
environment, and evaluate ways of controlling these impacts;
2. investigate interactions within the environment, and identify
factors that affect the balance between different components of
an ecosystem;
Course: Science and Technology
Lesson Name:
Energy Flow in Ecosystems: Ecological Pyramids
Length: 50 minutes
Specific Expectations:
2.3 use scientific inquiry/research skills (see page 15) to
investigate occurrences (e.g., a forest fire, a drought, an
infestation of invasive species such as zebra mussels in a local
lake or purple loosestrife in a wetland habitat) that affect the
balance within a local ecosystem.
3.3 describe the roles and interactions of producers, consumers,
and decomposers within an ecosystem
3.4 describe the transfer of energy in a food chain and explain the
effects of the elimination of any part of the chain
3.7 explain why an ecosystem is limited in the number of living
things (e.g., plants and animals, including humans) that it can
support

Learning Goals: Assessment: Cross Curricular:

Today we will… Diagnostic: - Math: fractions
- Learn how energy flows in an ecosystem - “Sunny D” Lab
- Learn that energy is lost in a food chain - Pyramid Diagram
Success Criteria:
I will be able to… Formative/Summative:
 Explain how energy is lost at each level of an - “Sunny D” Lab
ecological pyramid. Questions

Seating Arrangement: Pre-requisite Knowledge:
 Sitting at seats. 
 Preferably in Lab
Introduction/Action:
1) Review food webs and food chains.
2) Draw the Food Chain on the Black Board in the front of the Lab (refer to the Sunny D lab
instructions). Also draw a Pyramid with three levels. Teacher will fill this out with students.
3) Hand out the Sunny D Lab Pyramid and questions to each student.
4) Run through the Sunny D Lab with the class. Choose 3 students to be the plant, mouse, and hawk in
the lab and have them join you at the front of the class. Provide them each with a nametag. Each
student will have a clear cup (cylinder) and the teacher will use these to demonstrate how much Sunny
D to give each student. Start with 1 Litre (the Sun), pour 100ml into the plant’s container (pour out the
remaining 900ml), pour 10ml into the mouse’s container (pour out the remaining 90ml), pour 1ml into
the hawk’s container (pour out the remaining 9ml).
5) Ask the students at the hawk and mouse level: How many sips of Sunny D do you think it might take
to satisfy your animal’s needs to live? Record the number beside the pyramid where the animal is
labeled. Multiply the number the students gave by the number of animals in their level. (ex: if there is
one hawk and the student says they need 100 sips then there will be 100 mouse at the next level of the
pyramid. If the mouse says they’ll need 50 sips then there will be 100x50= 5000 plants).
6) Students will then complete the questions about the lab they just completed.

Consolidation/Extension:

Materials/Resources:
 Chalk board
 Sunny D Lab Worksheet with Pyramid Diagram
 3 Litres of Sunny D
 plastic cups (clear) x3
 Graduated cylinders of 100ml, 10ml x2

Reflection/What went well/Next Steps:

 Sunny D Lab
Energy Transfer in Ecosystems

Photosynthesis explains how energy from the sun is captured by green plants and used to make
food. Most of this energy is used to carry on the plant's life activities. The rest of the energy is
passed on as food to the next level of the food chain.

The figure above shows energy flow in a simple food chain. At each level of the food chain,
about 90% of the energy is lost in the form of heat. The total energy passed from one level to the
next is only about one-tenth of the energy received from the previous organism. Therefore, as
you move up the food chain, there is less energy available. Animals located at the top of the food
chain need a lot more food to meet their energy needs.

NOTE!! Each organism in the food chain is only transferring one-tenth of its energy to the next
organism.

Try this fun activity with your class to help make this clearer. Think of energy as Sunny D. The
teacher will represent the sun and three students will represent the organisms in a food chain: a
plant, a mouse and a hawk. You will need a liter of Sunny D, graduated cylinders, and an
eyedropper.

Reviewing the above diagram, we find that:

 The sun has one liter of Sunny D (energy) to give.

 Of that 1L, the plant gets one-tenth or 100 milliliters.
 The mouse gets 10 milliliters from the plant.
 The hawk gets 1 milliliter from the mouse.
 When the hawk dies and is decomposed by the mushroom, the mushroom gets only one-
tenth of a milliliter!

When the Sunny D has been distributed in the correct amount to each participating student, they
can drink their share.

The extra Sunny D that the sun does not give to the plant (900ml), is 90% energy lost to the
environment. You as the teacher to simulate this energy loss pour the remaining root beer down
the drain and listen to the moans of your students!
Sunny D Lab: Energy Flow in an Ecosystem

Sunny D = Energy
 Sunny D Lab: Energy Flow in Ecosystems
1. Which organism was most satisfied by the amount of "energy" he or she
received? Which organism was least satisfied?

2. What happened to the 900 milliliters from the sun that the plant didn't absorb?

3. What consumer in the food chain is going to have to eat the most food to meet
their energy needs?

4. Why can't a food chain have an infinite number of links?