Standard 1: Objective 1
Title: Building Food Chain/Energy Pyramid Mobiles
Brief Description: In this activity students will be building hanging mobiles which represent food chains and energy pyramids from a specific biome. They can use their textbook as a resource for this activity.
Materials Needed: textbook (Prentice Hall: Biology, pp 100-104), construction paper, glue, scissors, twine, colored pencils, mammal field guides, tree/bush field guides, insect field guides, computers if desired
Website: www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes
Prior to Assessment: Students should understand the concept of energy pyramids, food chains and feeding levels.
Time Needed: 2 class periods
Teacher procedures:
1. Collect supplies
2. Instruct students they will be creating mobile representing energy pyramids. (You may have students work in partners for this activity) These pyramids should include at least 1 complete food chain within their selected biome. Some organisms in the top levels of the pyramid will overlap. The website listed above is also very helpful.
3. Each level should represent the amount of energy available. This should be shown as biomass. Remember to remind students, the more biomass available the more energy available.
Examples of food chains could include:
Hawk
Owl------Scorpion
Kangaroo Rats----Bats-----Beetles
Cactus-----Yucca------Prickly Pear----Creosote bush
4. The food chain should include 4 different types of producers, 3 different types of primary consumer, 2 secondary consumer types and 1 tertiary consumer.
5. When making their mobiles students should remember that only 10% of the energy is available from one feeding level to the next. Students represent this by the size of each level on the mobile.
Ex. Strips of paper should be cut to the following ratios
Tertiary consumer .1 cm
Secondary consumers 1 cm
Primary consumers 10 cm
Producers 100 cm
6. Students should draw the organisms on the energy level which they belong on the pyramid. They could also draw them on separate sheets of paper, cut them out and hang them from the level.
7. Students may fold the strips of paper into triangles then attach together with twine.
8. Make 3 large arrows which say energy on them. You may want to laminate these for future use.
9. Students should conference with you to grade the pyramid.
10. During the conference you may want to ask some of the following questions.
a. Using the 3 arrows show where energy is lost and explain to me what form the energy is in that is lost.
Respiration, movement, reproduction, heat
b. What does each level represent on the pyramid?
Producer, primary, secondary, tertiary consumers
c. Why did you make each triangle the size you did?
To represent the amount of energy available at each level, energy is lost as we move up the pyramid
d. How would the number of organisms on the base level of you pyramid compare to the number of organisms on the top?
More on bottom than top
e. What might change these numbers (hint: think about size)
If the producer was a redwood and the primary consumers were tiny insects
f. What is the ultimate source of energy for your pyramid? How would a decrease in this source affect the biome?
Sun, less energy means some organisms would die
g. Describe 3 changes in the form of energy as it flows through your pyramid
chemical energy in the form of food, heat energy lost through organisms, solar energy from the sun, energy for movement. . .
Scoring Guide:
All organisms are from the same biome-10 pts
Complete food chain included-10 pts
Levels are constructed according to the amount of energy available-10 pts
Color and Neatness-10 pts
Ability to answer discussion questions-16 pts
Sample Mobile:
Title: Energy Pyramid Mobiles
Name:______Period:______
Purpose: To build a model of the energy pyramid using organisms from the same biome.
Materials: textbook (Prentice Hall: Biology, pp 100-104), construction paper, glue, scissors, twine, colored pencils, mammal field guides, tree/bush field guides, insect field guides, internet
Procedures:
1. Using pages 100-104 in your book choose a biome you would like to create an energy pyramid for. You can also use the internet to help you. A great site is www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes.
2. Your mobile must contain 4 energy levels. Cut 4 strips of paper to represent each level on your mobile. The size of each level should represent the amount of energy available to organisms at that level. In other words if the strip of paper for your producers was 100 cm long your strip of paper for you primary consumers should be 10 cm long etc.
3. Neatly label each strip of paper by the energy level it represents in the food chain.
4. Label somewhere on your mobile which biome you have chosen.
5. Using your book, and the descriptions of your biome given, chose 4 producers, 3 primary consumers, 2 secondary consumers, and 1 tertiary consumer.
6. These organisms should include at least one full food chain. (hint:in other words at least one organism on each level eats the one below it)
7. Draw your food chain on the back of one of the strips.
8. You will need to draw each of these. If you do not know what they look like use the field guides provided to find pictures.
9. Neatly draw and label each organism.
10. Paste the organism on the appropriate energy level. (producers on the producer strip) You may also choose to hang them with some twine from the level where they belong.
11. Fold each strip into a triangle and attach triangle with twine.
12. Be able to answer the following questions:
a. Using the 3 arrows show where energy is lost and explain to me what form the energy is in that is lost.
b. What does each level represent on the pyramid?
c. Why did you make each triangle the size you did?
d. How would the number of organisms on the base level of you pyramid compare to the number of organisms on the top?
e. What might change these numbers (hint: think about size)
f. What is the ultimate source of energy for your pyramid? How would a decrease in this source affect the biome?
Scoring Guide:
All organisms are from the same biome-10 pts
Complete food chain included-10 pts
Levels are constructed according to the amount of energy available-10 pts
Color and Neatness-10 pts
Ability to answer discussion questions-16 pts