Energy in the Ecosystemwebquest

Name: ______Date: ______Block: ______

Energy in the EcosystemWebquest

Directions:While on your Quest, record your answers on the Answer Sheet.

Go to

When the page loads, click on “skip login”. Try to score as close to 100 points as possible! How many points did you score? ______If it is less than 90, play again until you score 90 or above.

1. Which organisms were found in the lowest trophic level (primary producers and recyclers)?

1. Which organisms were found in the 2nd trophic level?

1. Which organisms were found in the 3rd trophic level?

1. Which organisms were found in the 4th trophic level?

1. Which organisms were top level consumers?

1. Why do you believe there are only 3 top level consumers?

Go to watch the animation and answer the questions.

1. What does an energy pyramid show?

1. What are found in the bottom layer of an energy pyramid?

1. What are found in the middle layer of an energy pyramid?

1. What are found in the top layer of the energy pyramid?

1. Why do you think there are fewer organisms in the middle and top layers than there are in the bottom layer?

1. Draw the forest energy pyramid.

1. What would happen if there were as many birds as there are caterpillars?

1. Draw the prairie energy pyramid.

1. What would happen if there were no coyotes?

1. Draw the ocean energy pyramid.

1. What if something happened to the plankton?

Go to Use this site to answer the questions.

1. How much energy from the sun actually reaches the Earth?

1. What does the energy from the sun get used for in the corn?

1. How much of the energy from the sun that reaches the plant gets stored in the plant?

1. Where does most of the energy captured by the corn plant go?

1. What percent of the energy from the corn that the cow eats winds up in hamburgers?

1. Why do some vegetarians say that eating more plants would help the world feed itself?

The ecological concept commonly referred to as the “Rule of 10” is in reference to how efficient energy is passed from one trophic level to the next. Visit the next resource to learn more about the “Rule of 10.”

1. The “Rule of 10” states that as little as ______% of the energy at any trophic level is transferred to the next trophic level.

1. If I am a higher trophic level organism, this means that I need to eat MORE / LESS (circle one) food in order to fulfill my energy needs.

1. The majority of the energy is lost as ______through the completion of metabolic processes.

Many of the concepts explored thus far can all be displayed utilizing an ecological pyramid. This next resource will provide insight into the different types of ecological pyramids.

1. Fill in the missing spaces within the table

1. What does the term biomass mean?

1. Use the diagram below to answer the following questions.

1. Which organism has more biomass, the Fox or the Rabbit? ______

1. Which organism has more available energy, the Grass or the Fox?______

1. Which organism contains more individuals, the Zooplankton or the Phytoplankton?______

Go to to answer the following questions

1. Name 2 places on the earth we find carbon:

1. Plants pull carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere to make food, through a process called ______.
2. Through food chains animals get ______from the plants and other animals they eat.

1. When plants and animals die and ______, carbon goes back into the ground.

1. Some carbon is buried deep in the ground and forms ______. When humans burn fossil fuels, ______is released back into the atmosphere.

1. When humans and animals exhale, they release carbon back into the air by a process called ______.

B.Nitrogen Cycle

Go to the website and answer the questions below:

1. What are 2 ways nitrogen becomes useable to plants, humans and animals:

1. How do herbivores obtain the nitrogen they need?

1. How is nitrogen returned to the atmosphere?

1. What are two ways humans impact the nitrogen cycle: