Energy Pyramid

The Energy Pyramid 

The energy pyramid is what we use to organize the flow of energy in a community. Different layers of the pyramid represent different groups of organisms. All energy ultimately comes from the sun but what where does it go after that? Lets find out!

There are four different layers to the pyramid.

1.) The first layer at the very bottom are the producers. These are all autotrophs which means they make their own food. This also means they are all primarily plants.

2.)The next step up are the primary consumers, they eat the producers from the previous level. This means, for the most part,  primary consumers are mainly herbivores.

3.) The next stage after that are the secondary consumers. These organisms eat the primary consumers which makes them carnivores.

4.) The next and final step are the Tertiary consumers. These organisms eat the secondary consumers which also make them carnivores.

• The producers always have the most energy.
• Only 10% of the energy goes through into the next step of the pyramid

If the producer have 1000 kcal (Energy)

Then the primary consumers will have 100 kcal(Energy)

Then the secondary consumers will have 10 kcal(Energy)

Then the tertiary consumer will only have 1 kcal(Energy)

Quick Vocab

• Autotroph - An organism that is capable of creating it's own food/energy without have to consume other organisms.
• Heterotroph - An organism that must consume other organisms in order to obtain energy.
• Carnivore - An organism that only consumes meat.
• Herbivore - An organism that only consumes vegetation. 

Reflection

Learning about the energy pyramid was pretty cool! It brings me back to when I first got into science during the 5th grade. I feel like this information is very important if you want to understand how the organisms around you work. You can truly understand how energy flows through out different animals. One thing that surprised me when I learned about this topic is that only 10% of energy moves through out the steps of the pyramid. I thoroughly enjoyed going over and learning more about energy's flow throughout animal communities!

Citations

"Significant Levels Of Energy Pyramid Ecosystem". Cleangreenenergyzone.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 27 May 2017.

 

"6Ahaverfordgarden11 - Energy Pyramid". 6ahaverfordgarden11.wikispaces.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 27 May 2017.