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9th grade Energy pyramids: how much energy reaches each level worksheet

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Energy pyramids: how much energy reaches each level

Grade 9 Science Worksheet

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. (model data), not to scale. Zee builds a model pyramid. About 10 percent of the energy passes up each step. How much do the secondary consumers hold?

    • 100 kJ
    • 1,000 kJ
    • 10 kJ
    • 1,000,000 kJ
  2. Energy pyramid (model data), not to scale, 4 steps from the bottom. Unit: kJ. Ari starts a model pyramid with 50,000 kJ at the producers. About 10 percent passes up each step. How much do the tertiary consumers hold?

    • 50,000 kJ
    • 5 kJ
    • 50 kJ
    • 5,000 kJ
  3. Energy pyramid (model data), not to scale, 3 steps from the bottom. Bo knows the secondary consumers hold 200 kJ. About 10 percent passes up each step. How much do the producers hold?

    • 20,000 kJ
    • 2,000 kJ
    • 200,000 kJ
    • 20 kJ
  4. In this model, the energy that does not pass up is used in life processes or lost as heat. Jun wants the total loss across the two steps up to the secondary consumers. How much of the 20,000 kJ is used or lost as heat?

    • 18,000 kJ
    • 0 kJ
    • 19,800 kJ
    • 22,200 kJ
  5. Read this first

    Use this

    not to scale. In this model, the energy that does not pass up is used in life processes or lost as heat.

  6. The primary consumers hold 1,000 kJ and pass 100 kJ up. Kira's friend says the other 900 kJ is gone. Which reply is best?

    • It went back to the producers, who use it again
    • It was destroyed, which is why the next step is smaller
    • It passed up as well, so the next step really holds 1,000 kJ
    • It was used for life processes or left as heat, so it was not destroyed
  7. Use this

    Energy pyramid (real data, from OpenStax Biology 2e), not to scale, 4 steps from the bottom. Unit: kcal/m²/yr.

  8. Luz reads real energy data from Silver Springs, Florida. What percent of the producers' energy is the primary consumers' energy?

    • About 16.2 percent
    • About 618 percent
    • About 10 percent
    • About 83.8 percent
  9. Milo reads the Silver Springs pyramid. What percent of the primary consumers' energy is the secondary consumers' energy?

    Use the picture in question 6.

    • About 88.6 percent
    • About 11.4 percent
    • About 1.8 percent
    • About 10 percent
  10. Noah reads the Silver Springs pyramid. What percent of the secondary consumers' energy is the tertiary consumers' energy?

    Use the picture in question 6.

    • About 10 percent
    • About 5.5 percent
    • About 0.1 percent
    • About 94.5 percent
  11. Use the table

    Card (model data). A model ecosystem.

    measurevalue
    producers' energy (kJ)100,000
    share passed up at each step (percent)10
    least energy a level needs (kJ)100
  12. Pia reads a model ecosystem card. How many levels, counting the producers, can this ecosystem support?

    • 4 levels
    • 3 levels
    • 5 levels
    • 2 levels
  13. Ari reads a third model ecosystem card. How many levels, counting the producers, can it support?

    • 5 levels
    • 4 levels
    • 6 levels
    • 3 levels
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9th grade Energy pyramids: how much energy reaches each level worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Trophic levels and energy pyramids: how much energy reaches each level. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can name the trophic levels in a plant-based chain: producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, and the decomposers that break down wastes and remains.
  • I can read an energy pyramid, find the energy at a level, and say that the producers at the base hold the most.
  • I can say that energy flows one way through an ecosystem and that some is used for life processes or lost as heat at each step. It is not destroyed and it does not come back.
  • I can compute the energy at a level from the one below (about 10 percent passes up in a model), work backward to the producers, and find how much is used or lost as heat.
  • I can find the percent that passes from one level to the next from two numbers, and compare real percents with the 10 percent rule of thumb. The Silver Springs pyramid gives 16.2, 11.4 and 5.5 percent.
  • I can say that the 10 percent rule is a rough guide, not an exact value.

Standard: HS-LS2-4

Words to know

trophic level: A step in a food chain, such as the producers or the primary consumers

producer: An organism that makes its own food from light or from chemicals; the base level

primary consumer: An organism that gets its energy from the producers, a herbivore

secondary consumer: A consumer that gets its energy from the primary consumers

tertiary consumer: A consumer that gets its energy from the secondary consumers

apex consumer: The consumer at the top of a food chain

decomposer: An organism, such as a fungus or bacterium, that breaks down wastes and remains

food chain: One path along which energy and nutrients pass from organism to organism

Common mistakes

Your child thought energy goes back down to the producers and is used again, the way matter does. Matter cycles, but energy passes up one way and some leaves as heat at each step. Ask your child where energy comes in and where some of it leaves.

Your child thought all the energy at one level passes to the next level. Only a part passes up; the rest is used for life or lost as heat. Ask your child how much is left on each level compared with the level below.

Your child thought the top level of a pyramid holds the most energy. The producers at the base hold the most, and each level up holds less. Ask your child which level has the biggest number, and why.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with energy pyramids: how much energy reaches each level?

Your child thought energy goes back down to the producers and is used again, the way matter does. Matter cycles, but energy passes up one way and some leaves as heat at each step. Ask your child where energy comes in and where some of it leaves.

Are these 9th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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