3–2 Energy Flow Section 3–2

1 FOCUS
t the core of every organism’s interaction with the environ-
A ment is its need for energy to power life’s processes.
Consider, for example, the energy that ants use to carry objects
Objectives
3.2.1 Identify the source of energy
Key Concepts
many times their size or the energy that birds use to migrate • Where does the energy for life for life processes.
thousands of miles. Think about the energy that you need to get processes come from? 3.2.2 Trace the flow of energy
out of bed in the morning! The flow of energy through an ecosys- • How does energy flow through living systems.
through living systems?
tem is one of the most important factors that determines the • How efficient is the transfer of 3.2.3 Evaluate the efficiency of
system’s capacity to sustain life. energy among organisms in energy transfer among organ-
an ecosystem? isms in an ecosystem.
Producers Vocabulary
autotroph • producer
Without a constant input of energy, living systems cannot photosynthesis
function. Sunlight is the main energy source for life chemosynthesis • heterotroph
on Earth. Of all the sun’s energy that reaches Earth’s surface, consumer • herbivore Vocabulary Preview
only a small amount—less than 1 percent—is used by living carnivore • omnivore To help students understand related
things. This seemingly small amount is enough to produce as detritivore • decomposer
food chain • food web terms in this section, write the follow-
much as 3.5 kilograms of living tissue per square meter a year trophic level ing sets of words and word parts on
in some tropical forests. ecological pyramid • biomass the board.
In a few ecosystems, some organisms obtain energy from a Set 1: photo-, chemo-, synthesis
source other than sunlight. Some types of organisms Reading Strategy:
Building Vocabulary As Set 2: herb-, carn-, omni-, detritus,
rely on the energy stored in inorganic chemical com-
you read, make notes about the -vore
pounds. For instance, mineral water that flows underground or meaning of each term in the list
boils out of hot springs and undersea vents is loaded with above and how it relates to
Have students look up the meaning
chemical energy. energy flow in the biosphere. of all words and parts in a dictionary
Only plants, some algae, and certain bacteria can capture Then, draw a concept map to and list them. As students read the
energy from sunlight or chemicals and use that energy to produce show the relationships among section and make notes about the
these terms.
food. These organisms are called autotrophs. Autotrophs use terms, they can check the text’s defi-
energy from the environment to fuel the assembly of simple nitions against this list.
inorganic compounds into complex organic molecules. These
organic molecules combine and recombine to produce living tissue. Reading Strategy
Because they make their own food, autotrophs, like the kelp in Students’ concept maps could be
Figure 3–4, are also called producers. Both types of producers— titled “Energy Flow” and begin with
those that capture energy from sunlight and those that capture autotrophs, or producers, which
chemical energy—are essential to the flow of energy through the make food through photosynthesis
biosphere.
or chemosynthesis. Then, students
should add the various types of het-
erotrophs to their concept maps and
왔 Figure 3–4 Sunlight falls on a dense kelp forest off the coast
of California. Kelp is an autotroph that uses energy from
show how the various types of organ-
the sun to produce living tissue. isms are interrelated, using the terms
food chain, food web, trophic level,
and ecological pyramid.

2 INSTRUCT
Producers
Building Science Skills
Measuring Have groups of students
SECTION RESOURCES cut out one-square-meter pieces of
heavy wrapping or butcher paper.
Print: Technology: Next, let each group use a balance
• Teaching Resources, Section Review 3–2 • iText, Section 3–2 and various common objects in the
• Reading and Study Workbook A, Section 3–2 • Transparencies Plus, Section 3–2 classroom to measure out 3.5 kg of
Save B,
• Adapted Reading and Study Workbook mass, and then place the objects on
e the paper square. Encourage the
r
Tim

Section 3–2
• Lesson Plans, Section 3–2 groups to examine one another’s
piles of objects. Emphasize that each
pile represents the amount of living
tissue produced per square meter
each year in a tropical forest.

The Biosphere 67
3–2 (continued) Energy From the Sun The best-known
Light
autotrophs are those that harness solar energy
Energy
through a process known as photosynthesis.
Make Connections
During photosynthesis, these autotrophs use
Chemistry On the board, write the light energy to power chemical reactions that
chemical equation for photosynthesis: convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen
light
6CO2  6H2O energy >C6 H12O6  6O2 and energy-rich carbohydrates such as sugars
Ask: Which element does each let- and starches. This process, shown in Figure 3–5
ter in the formulas stand for? (C for (top), is responsible for adding oxygen to—and
removing carbon dioxide from—Earth’s atmos-
carbon; O, oxygen; H, hydrogen)
phere. In fact, were it not for photosynthetic
Explain that the equation can be read
autotrophs, the air would not contain enough
as “Six molecules of carbon dioxide oxygen for you to breathe!
and six molecules of water combine On land, plants are the main autotrophs.
in the presence of light energy to In freshwater ecosystems and in the sunlit upper
Light
yield one molecule of glucose and six Energy layers of the ocean, algae are the main autotrophs.
Carbon +
molecules of oxygen.” Ask: Why are Water Carbohydrates + Oxygen Photosynthetic bacteria, the most common of
dioxide
the numbers needed in the equa- which are the cyanobacteria (sy-an-oh-bak-
tion? (Without numbers, the equation PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN PLANTS TEER-ee-uh), are important in certain wet
wouldn’t be balanced.) If students are ecosystems such as tidal flats and salt marshes.
not familiar with this concept, write
the equation on the board, and then Life Without Light Although plants are the
cross out the balanced pairs—6 car- most visible and best-known autotrophs, some
bon atoms (6C) on the left and 6 autotrophs can produce food in the absence of
carbon atoms (C6) on the right; 18 Bacterial Cell light. Such autotrophs rely on energy within the
oxygen atoms (6O2  6O) on the left chemical bonds of inorganic molecules such as
Hydrogen sulfide and oxygen hydrogen sulfide. When organisms use chemical
and 18 (O6  6O2) on the right; 12
combine, forming sulfur compounds. energy to produce carbohydrates, the process is
hydrogen atoms (6H2) on the left
called chemosynthesis (kee-moh-SIN-thuh-
and 12 (H12) on the right. Chemical Energy
sis), as shown in Figure 3–5 (bottom). This
process is performed by several types of bacteria.
Cells make carbohydrates using
Consumers carbon dioxide from sea water. Surprisingly, these bacteria represent a large
proportion of living autotrophs. Some chemosyn-
Deep-Sea
Build Science Skills Vent thetic bacteria live in very remote places on
Earth, such as volcanic vents on the deep-ocean
Classifying Divide the class into
floor and hot springs in Yellowstone Park. Others
small groups, and provide each
live in more common places, such as tidal
group with photocopies of a wide CHEMOSYNTHESIS IN SULFUR BACTERIA
marshes along the coast.
variety of organisms, including
plants, multicellular algae, inverte- Figure 3–5 Sunlight is the main energy source What is the difference between
brates, and vertebrates. Then, have for life on Earth. Some types of organisms rely on photosynthesis and chemosynthesis?
the energy stored in inorganic chemical com-
each group sort its organisms into pounds. Plants use the energy from sunlight to carry
two piles—producers and con-
sumers—and then sort the
out the process of photosynthesis. Other autotrophs,
such as sulfur bacteria, use the energy stored in
Consumers
consumers into piles representing the chemical bonds for chemosynthesis. In both cases, Many organisms—including animals, fungi, and
energy-rich carbohydrates are produced. many bacteria—cannot harness energy directly
four subcategories of herbivores,
carnivores, omnivores, and decom- from the physical environment as autotrophs do.
The only way these organisms can acquire energy
posers.
is from other organisms. Organisms that rely on
other organisms for their energy and food supply
are called heterotrophs (HET-ur-oh-trohfs).
Heterotrophs are also called consumers.

Inclusion/Special Needs Advanced Learners

To engage students’ interest in feeding relation- Point out to interested students this sentence on
ships and ecological pyramids, ask students page 68 about chemosynthetic bacteria:
about feeding relationships with which they “Surprisingly, these bacteria represent a large
may have some familiarity. For example, most proportion of living autotrophs.” Challenge stu-
students will know that birds in their neighbor- dents to find out about such bacteria, including
hood feed on either seeds and berries or small those that live in hot springs and those that live
animals such as worms and insects. Elicit from in the deep ocean around vents. Have students
students ideas about relative numbers at differ- prepare reports about what they find and pre-
ent trophic levels, energy transfer, and biomass sent them to the class when students study bac-
comparisons. teria in Chapter 19.
68 Chapter 3
 Feeding
There are many different types of heterotrophs. Herbivores
obtain energy by eating only plants. Some herbivores are cows, Relationships
caterpillars, and deer. Carnivores, including snakes, dogs, Use Visuals
and owls, eat animals. Humans, bears, crows, and other
omnivores eat both plants and animals. Detritivores, Figure 3–7 After students have
(dee-TRYT-uh-vawrz), such as mites, earthworms, snails, and studied the figure, ask: Among the
crabs, feed on plant and animal remains and other dead matter, organisms shown, which are
collectively called detritus. Another important group of het- autotrophs and which are het-
erotrophs, called decomposers, breaks down organic matter. erotrophs? (The algae are autotrophs;
Bacteria and fungi, such as the one in Figure 3–6, are decomposers. the others are heterotrophs.) Among
the heterotrophs, which are herbi-
Feeding Relationships vores and which are carnivores?
(The zooplankton are herbivores; the
What happens to the energy in an ecosystem when one organ- other heterotrophs are carnivores.)
ism eats another? That energy moves along a one-way path. What kind of heterotrophs might
Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction,
Figure 3–6 This fungus, enter this food chain when the
from the sun or inorganic compounds to autotrophs growing on the forest floor, is a shark dies and falls to the ocean
(producers) and then to various heterotrophs (consumers). decomposer that obtains nutrients
by breaking down dead and floor? (Detritivores and decomposers)
The relationships between producers and consumers connect
organisms into feeding networks based on who eats whom. decaying plants and animals. It is
called a coral fungus because of its
color and shape. Classifying Is
Food Chains The energy stored by producers can be passed the fungus a producer or a consumer? Build Science Skills
through an ecosystem along a food chain, a series of steps in
which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten. For Applying Concepts Show students
example, in a prairie ecosystem, a food chain might consist of a some acorns, sunflower seeds, or
producer, such as grass, that is fed upon by a herbivore, such as other common type of seed, and ask:
a grazing antelope. The herbivore is in turn fed upon by a Where did these seeds come from?
carnivore, such as a coyote. In this situation, the carnivore is (A plant) What kind of animal might
only two steps removed from the producer. eat these seeds? (Depending on the
In some marine food chains, such as the one in Figure 3–7, type of seeds used, a squirrel, chick-
the producers are microscopic algae that are eaten by very small adee, mouse, or chipmunk might eat
organisms called zooplankton (zoh-oh-PLANK-tun). The zoo- them.) What kind of animal might
plankton, in turn, are eaten by small fish, such as herring. The eat the animal that ate the seeds?
herring are eaten by squid, which are ultimately eaten by large (A larger carnivore such as a fox, hawk,
fish, such as sharks. In this food chain, the top carnivore is four or coyote) What is the feeding rela-
steps removed from the producer.
tionship that you just described
called? (A food chain) What happens
 Figure 3–7 Food chains show the one-
way flow of energy in an ecosystem. In this to energy in the food chain?
marine food chain, energy is passed from the (Energy is transferred from the organ-
producers (algae) to four different groups of ism being eaten to the organism doing
consumers.
the eating. Some energy from lower
trophic levels is lost as heat.) What
was the original source of energy
in the food chain? (The sun)

Small fish
Zooplankton

Squid

Algae Shark

FACTS AND FIGURES

Energy moves up the chain feed directly on the producers. Above the primary
In nature, simple “straight line” food chains are consumers are secondary consumers, then tertiary
rare, primarily because few species eat or are consumers, and, in some food chains, quaternary
eaten by only one other species. Nevertheless, a consumers. Not many food chains extend beyond
food chain is a useful model for studying the four consumer levels. Decomposers (also known Answers to . . .
transfer of energy and materials in an ecosystem. as saprotrophs), detritivores, and parasites—
Photosynthesis uses light
All food chains on land begin with producers organisms that live in or on other organisms and
energy. Chemosynthesis uses the ener-
that use light energy to synthesize organic com- obtain energy from them—can occupy any level
gy stored in chemical bonds.
pounds. Primary consumers are herbivores that of a food chain.
Figure 3–6 A consumer

The Biosphere 69
3–2 (continued)

How is a food chain organized?

Objective Students will be able to Materials 2 wide-mouth jars, 2 pieces of flexible
describe the organization of a sim- screening, 2 rubber bands, 2 bean seedlings in small
ple food chain. pots or paper cups, pea aphids, ladybird beetles
Skill Focus Classifying
Procedure
Materials 2 wide-mouth jars, 2
pieces of flexible screening, 2 rub- 1. Place a potted bean seedling in each of the
ber bands, 2 bean seedlings in small two jars. 5. Place both jars in a sunny location. Observe the jars
2. Add 20 aphids to one jar and cover the jar with each day for one week and record your observa-
pots or paper cups, pea aphids,
screening to prevent the aphids from escaping. Use tions each day. Water the seedlings as needed.
ladybird beetles a rubber band to attach the screening to the jar.
Time 15 minutes for initial setup, 5 3. Add 20 aphids and 4 ladybird beetles to the second Analyze and Conclude
minutes per day for one week to jar. Cover the second jar as you did the first one. 1. Observing What happened to the aphids and the
observe and record 4. Formulating Hypotheses Record your hypothesis seedling in the jar without the ladybird beetles? In
about how the presence of the ladybird beetles will the jar with the ladybird beetles? How can you
Advance Prep affect the survival of the aphids and the bean explain this difference?
• About two weeks before students seedling. Also, record your prediction of what will 2. Classifying Identify each organism in the jars as
do this activity, plant bean seeds in happen to the organisms in each jar during the a producer or a consumer.
pots or paper cups. Each group will next week.
need two seedlings. Plant extras in
case some plants do not thrive.
• Aphids and ladybird beetles may be
collected outdoors or ordered from
a biological supply house. Ladybird
Food Webs In most ecosystems, feeding relationships are
more complex than can be shown in a food chain. Consider, for
beetles also may be available at
example, the relationships in a salt marsh. Although some
garden centers as natural pest-
producers—including marsh grass and other salt-tolerant
controls. If the organisms are col- plants—are eaten by water birds, grasshoppers, and other
lected outdoors, make sure they are herbivores, most producers complete their life cycles, then die
returned to their original locations and decompose. Decomposers convert the dead plant matter to
at the conclusion of the activity. detritus, which is eaten by detritivores, such as sandhoppers.
• Because it may be difficult to The detritivores are in turn eaten by smelt and other small fish.
obtain pea aphids and ladybird Some of those consumers will also eat detritus directly. Add
beetles, you may want to use crick- mice, larger fish, and hawks to the scenario, and feeding rela-
ets and praying mantises instead. tionships can get very confusing!
Safety Caution students to handle When the feeding relationships among the various organ-
organisms without harming them. isms in an ecosystem form a network of complex interactions,
Make sure they wash their hands ecologists describe these relationships as a food web. A food
web links all the food chains in an ecosystem together. The food
with soap and warm water before
web in Figure 3–8, for example, shows the feeding relationships
leaving the lab.
in a salt-marsh community.
Strategies
• Make the aphids and ladybird Trophic Levels Each step in a food chain or food web is
beetles available to students in a Trophic originates from the Greek called a trophic (TRAHF-ik) level. Producers make up the
central distribution center. word trophe, which means “food first trophic level. Consumers make up the second, third, or
• You may want to let students or nourishment.” What do you higher trophic levels. Each consumer depends on the trophic
examine the aphids with magnifiers think are the original meanings level below it for energy.
of the words heterotroph and
before they place them in the jars.
autotroph? What is a food web?
Expected Outcome See Analyze
and Conclude number 1 below.
Analyze and Conclude
1. In the jar without ladybird bee- FACTS AND FIGURES
tles, the uncontrolled aphids
harmed (or perhaps killed) the Two types of food webs dead organisms. This process releases simple inor-
seedling. In the jar with ladybird There are two basic types of food webs: grazing ganic molecules such as mineral salts, carbon,
beetles, the seedling was less dam- food webs and detrital food webs. A grazing food nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, making
aged and survived longer. The web begins with photosynthesizing plants, algae, these nutrients available for reuse by producers
ladybird beetles helped protect the or phytoplankton. A detrital food web begins with and, eventually, all other organisms in the ecosys-
seedling by eating some of the decomposers and detritivores. It is the detrital type tem. Without decomposers and detritivores, such
aphids that were feeding on it. of food web that enables nutrients to be recycled essential elements would remain in animal wastes
2. The seedlings are producers; the in ecosystems. and dead organisms.
aphids and ladybird beetles are Decomposers and detritivores obtain energy by
consumers. breaking down organic wastes and the remains of

70 Chapter 3
 Use Visuals
FIGURE 3–8 FOOD WEB IN A SALT MARSH Figure 3–8 To help students deal
with the complexity of the food web,
This illustration of a food web shows some
of the feeding relationships in a salt marsh.
call on different students in turn to
Interpreting Graphics What does the Marsh hawk
name the organisms in one food
marsh hawk feed on? chain, beginning with a producer
and working upward to the final con-
sumer. For example, students might
identify a food web including algae,
zooplankton, plankton-eating fishes,
and heron.

Top-level Build Science Skills

Carnivores
Making Models Obtain at least 25
pictures of organisms—producers
Heron
and different-level consumers—that
could be found in an ecosystem
other than the one shown in Figure
3–8. Tape the pictures in random
Shrew order on the classroom walls, desk-
Clapper rail
Plankton-eating fishes (omnivore) tops, and other surfaces. Give each
student a small ball of colored yarn
and several small pieces of masking
First-level tape. Then, let four or five students at
Carnivores a time connect pictures with yarn to
show different food chains. Students
Harvest mouse may crisscross the room with the
(omnivore)
yarn so the food web becomes quite
Ribbed
complex. When every student has
mussel
Grasshopper had a turn, let the class examine the
Sandhopper
results. Ask: What is the name for
this pattern of feeding relation-
ships? (A food web) How is a food
web different from a food chain?
(A food web contains many overlap-
Zooplankton ping food chains, so it is much more
Herbivores complex than a single food chain.)

Detritus

Hetero- means “other, different,” and

auto- means “self.” Thus, heterotroph
refers to an organism that feeds on
Marsh grass
other organisms, and autotroph refers
to one that produces its own food.
Marsh grass Pickleweed

Decomposers Algae Producers

TEACHER TO TEACHER

I have students make a food-web poster for a The posters may be drawn free-hand, or stu-
particular ecosystem or biome. The food web dents may cut and paste pictures from
must contain at least five food chains consisting magazines or computer printouts. I usually have
of a producer, a primary consumer, and a sec- students explain their posters to the class in oral
ondary consumer. Each consumer must be presentations. Answers to . . .
labeled as an herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, or —LouEllen Parker Brademan
decomposer. At least one predator-prey relation- A food web is the net-
Teacher
ship must be shown. Five abiotic factors also work of feeding relationships in an
Potomac Senior High School
must be included and labeled. ecosystem.
Dumfries, Virginia
Figure 3–8 Birds and small mammals

The Biosphere 71
3–2 (continued) Energy Pyramid
Shows the relative amount of energy available at each
Biomass Pyramid
Represents the amount of
trophic level. Organisms use about 10 percent of this living organic matter at each
Ecological Pyramids energy for life processes. The rest is lost as heat. trophic level. Typically, the
greatest biomass is at the
Make Connections base of the pyramid. 50 grams of
T human tissue
0.1% Third-level consumers
Mathematics Draw students’ atten-
A 1% Second-level consumers
tion to the energy pyramid in Figure Light or 500 grams
3–9. Explain that the amount of ener- chemical 10% First-level consumers of chicken
E
gy available in food is measured in energy
5000 grams
calories. One calorie is the amount of H of grain
100% Producers
energy needed to raise the tempera-
ture of 1 gram of water 1°C.
Scientists usually refer to the energy
content of food in units of kilocalo-
ries. One kilocalorie equals 1000
calories. A kilocalorie is also
expressed as a Calorie, with a capital
C. Then, pose the following problem:
Suppose that the base of this ener-
gy pyramid consists of plants that
contain 450,000 Calories of food
Ecological Pyramids
energy. If all the plants were eaten The amount of energy or matter in an ecosystem can be repre-
by mice and insects, how much sented by an ecological pyramid. An ecological pyramid is a
food energy would be available to diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter
contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web.
those first-level consumers?
Ecologists recognize three different types of ecological pyramids:
(45,000 Calories) If all the mice and
energy pyramids, biomass pyramids, and pyramids of numbers.
insects were eaten by snakes, how
Figure 3–9 shows an example of each type.
much food energy would be avail-
able to the snakes? (4500 Calories) Energy Pyramid Theoretically, there is no limit to the
If all the snakes were eaten by a number of trophic levels that a food chain can support. But
hawk, how much food energy there is one hitch. Only part of the energy that is stored in one
would be available to the hawk? trophic level is passed on to the next level. This is because
(450 Calories) How much food ener- organisms use much of the energy that they consume for life
gy would the hawk use for its body processes, such as respiration, movement, and reproduction.
processes and lose as heat? (405 Some of the remaining energy is released into the environment
Calories—90 percent of 450) How as heat. Only about 10 percent of the energy available
much food energy would be stored within one trophic level is transferred to organisms at
in the hawk’s body? (45 Calories) the next trophic level. For instance, one tenth of the solar
energy captured by grasses ends up stored in the tissues of cows
and other grazers. Only one tenth of that energy—10 percent of
Build Science Skills 10 percent, or 1 percent total—is transferred to the humans
Applying Concepts Point out the that eat the cows. Thus, the more levels that exist between a
exception described in the text of a producer and a top-level consumer in an ecosystem, the less
numbers pyramid. Ask: What would energy that remains from the original amount.
be the shape of a numbers pyra-
mid for the forest? (The pyramid’s
N S TA
Biomass Pyramid The total amount of living tissue within
For: Links on energy a given trophic level is called biomass. Biomass is usually
base, representing the trees, would be pyramids
expressed in terms of grams of organic matter per unit area. A
much smaller than the second section, Visit: www.SciLinks.org
Web Code: cbn-2032 biomass pyramid represents the amount of potential food
representing the insects that feed on
available for each trophic level in an ecosystem.
the trees.)

BIOLOGY UPDATE
N S TA

Download a worksheet The rule of 10 More recent studies have demonstrated that
on energy pyramids for students to The textbook’s discussion of energy pyramids energy efficiency varies between trophic levels in
complete, and find additional teacher states that only about 10 percent of the energy a food chain and between different food chains.
support from NSTA SciLinks. available at each trophic level in a food chain is In fact, these recent studies have yielded approxi-
transferred to organisms at the next higher mations of energy efficiency ranging from a low
trophic level. This “rule of 10,“ which was based of 0.05 percent to a high of 20 percent.
on early studies of aquatic ecosystems, is useful as
a general approximation. However, it does not
apply uniformly to all food chains.

72 Chapter 3
 3 ASSESS
Pyramid of Numbers
Shows the relative number
of individual organisms at
Evaluate Understanding
each trophic level. Have each student draw and label a
Figure 3–9 Ecological pyramids show the food web for a specific ecosystem of
decreasing amounts of energy, living tissue, or
number of organisms at successive feeding levels. his or her choice. Tell students that
The pyramid is divided into sections that represent the web should contain at least four
each trophic level. Because each trophic level food chains and that each food chain
harvests only about one tenth of the energy should consist of at least three
from the level below, it can support only about
one tenth the amount of living tissue. organisms.

Reteach
Display a list of organisms that would
be found in a specific ecosystem. Call
on students in turn to identify each
organism as a producer or a con-
sumer. Write P or C next to each
organism’s name. Then, have stu-
dents further classify each consumer
as an herbivore, a carnivore, or an
Pyramid of Numbers Ecological pyramids can also be omnivore; write H, C, or O next to
based on the numbers of individual organisms at each trophic
each name. As a final step, have stu-
level. For some ecosystems, such as the meadow shown in
dents in turn link together any three
Figure 3–9 above, the shape of the pyramid of numbers is the
same as that of the energy and biomass pyramids. This, however,
organisms—a producer, an herbivore,
is not always the case. In most forests, for example, there are and a carnivore—in a food chain.
fewer producers than there are consumers. A single tree has a
large amount of energy and biomass, but it is only one organism.
Many insects live in the tree, but they have less energy and
biomass. Thus, a pyramid of numbers for a forest ecosystem Students may choose to describe
would not resemble a typical pyramid at all! any of the several food chains
shown in Figure 3–8. A typical
choice might begin with marsh
grass as the producer. The marsh
grass is eaten by the grasshopper,
3–2 Section Assessment which is eaten by the harvest
mouse, which is eaten by the
Descriptive Writing
marsh hawk. All three animals
1. Key Concept What are 4. Explain the relationships in this Refer to Figure 3– 8, which
shows a food web in a salt
should be identified as consumers.
the two main forms of energy food chain: omnivore, herbivore, Students might suggest that any
that power living systems? and autotroph. marsh. Choose one of the
food chains within this web. or all of these organisms eventual-
2. Key Concept Briefly 5. Critical Thinking
Then, write a paragraph ly die and are consumed by
describe the flow of energy among Calculating Draw an energy
describing the feeding decomposers.
organisms in an ecosystem. pyramid for a five-step food
relationships among the
3. Key Concept What chain. If 100 percent of the
organisms in the food chain.
proportion of energy is trans- energy is available at the first
Hint: Use the terms producers,
ferred from one trophic level to trophic level, what percentage of
consumers, and decomposers
the next in an ecosystem? the total energy is available at the
in your description.
highest trophic level?
If your class subscribes to the iText,
use it to review the Key Concepts in
Section 3–2.

3–2 Section Assessment

1. Solar energy is harnessed by autotrophs that 4. The autotroph is the producer, and it is
conduct photosynthesis. Chemical energy— eaten by the herbivore. The herbivore is
the energy within the chemical bonds of then eaten by the omnivore.
inorganic molecules—is harnessed by 5. Students’ pyramids should show 100 per-
autotrophs that conduct chemosynthesis. cent of the energy available at the first
2. Students should describe a one-way flow of (producer) level, 10 percent at the second
energy from autotrophs (producers) to con- level, 1 percent at the third level, 0.1 per-
sumers—first herbivores, and then carnivores cent at the fourth level, and 0.01 percent at
and/or omnivores. the fifth level.
3. In general, about 10 percent
The Biosphere 73