Activity Overview
Pyramids of numbers and biomass are also used to study food chains in more detail. Biomass is the amount of living material at each trophic level. You would expect that to reduce at each stage as energy is lost between each stage. You would expect the bars of a pyramid of biomass to get narrower at each stage. The bars on a pyramid of number may not get narrower at each stage, as the bars are representing the number of organisms at each stage. A tree, for example, is very big and has a large biomass, but it is only a single living organism.
Using charts to describe food chains can have many benefits in understanding the transfers in energy between each trophic level. In this activity, have your students draw a pyramid of numbers and a pyramid of biomass for different food chains.
This activity looks at the general trends in the pyramids shapes and is not designed to get students drawing the graphs accurately. Have students find data online and draw the charts out more accurately using graph paper.
Template and Class Instructions
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a storyboard to show how we can represent certain food chains with charts. The two charts we are going to use are called a pyramid of numbers and a pyramid of biomass.
- Look at the food chains in the first column. They are Oak → Aphid → Ladybug → Sparrow and Grass → Caterpillar → Bluebird.
- Use this information to create a pyramid of numbers and a pyramid of biomass. You should do this by using rectangles.
- You don’t need to make the bands of the pyramid exactly the right size.
- To make this easier, turn on "grid lines" by clicking advanced options at the bottom of the page.
Lesson Plan Reference
Rubric
(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.)
| Proficient 33 Points | Emerging 16 Points | Beginning 0 Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pyramids of Numbers | Both the pyramids of numbers are drawn correctly and to scale. They are both labeled. | One of the pyramids of numbers are drawn correctly and to scale. One is labeled. | Neither of the pyramids of numbers are drawn correctly and to scale. Neither of them is labeled. |
| Pyramids of Biomass | Both the pyramids of biomass are drawn correctly and to scale. They are both labeled. | One of the pyramids of biomass are drawn correctly and to scale. One is labeled. | Neither of the pyramids of biomass are drawn correctly and to scale. Neither of them is labeled. |
| Evidence of Effort | Work is well written and carefully thought out. | Work shows some evidence of effort. | Work shows little evidence of any effort. |
Activity Overview
Pyramids of numbers and biomass are also used to study food chains in more detail. Biomass is the amount of living material at each trophic level. You would expect that to reduce at each stage as energy is lost between each stage. You would expect the bars of a pyramid of biomass to get narrower at each stage. The bars on a pyramid of number may not get narrower at each stage, as the bars are representing the number of organisms at each stage. A tree, for example, is very big and has a large biomass, but it is only a single living organism.
Using charts to describe food chains can have many benefits in understanding the transfers in energy between each trophic level. In this activity, have your students draw a pyramid of numbers and a pyramid of biomass for different food chains.
This activity looks at the general trends in the pyramids shapes and is not designed to get students drawing the graphs accurately. Have students find data online and draw the charts out more accurately using graph paper.
Template and Class Instructions
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a storyboard to show how we can represent certain food chains with charts. The two charts we are going to use are called a pyramid of numbers and a pyramid of biomass.
- Look at the food chains in the first column. They are Oak → Aphid → Ladybug → Sparrow and Grass → Caterpillar → Bluebird.
- Use this information to create a pyramid of numbers and a pyramid of biomass. You should do this by using rectangles.
- You don’t need to make the bands of the pyramid exactly the right size.
- To make this easier, turn on "grid lines" by clicking advanced options at the bottom of the page.
Lesson Plan Reference
Rubric
(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.)
| Proficient 33 Points | Emerging 16 Points | Beginning 0 Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pyramids of Numbers | Both the pyramids of numbers are drawn correctly and to scale. They are both labeled. | One of the pyramids of numbers are drawn correctly and to scale. One is labeled. | Neither of the pyramids of numbers are drawn correctly and to scale. Neither of them is labeled. |
| Pyramids of Biomass | Both the pyramids of biomass are drawn correctly and to scale. They are both labeled. | One of the pyramids of biomass are drawn correctly and to scale. One is labeled. | Neither of the pyramids of biomass are drawn correctly and to scale. Neither of them is labeled. |
| Evidence of Effort | Work is well written and carefully thought out. | Work shows some evidence of effort. | Work shows little evidence of any effort. |
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Food Chains
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