Energy pyramids: how much energy reaches each level

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. 1.

   Energy pyramid (model data), not to scale, 3 steps from the bottom. Ari reads a model energy pyramid. Step W, the bottom step, holds grass. Which level is step W?

   • Producers
   • Primary consumers
   • Secondary consumers
   • Decomposers
2. 2.

   Energy pyramid (model data), not to scale, 4 steps from the bottom. Unit: kJ. Esme reads a four-step pyramid. Step Y is the third step from the bottom. Which level is step Y?

   • Primary consumers, the second level
   • Secondary consumers
   • Tertiary consumers, the top level
   • Producers, the base level
3. 3.

   2 steps from the bottom. Jun reads a model pyramid. About 10 percent of the producers' energy passes up one step. What goes in the blank?

   • 10,000 kJ
   • 1,000 kJ
   • 100 kJ
   • 9,000 kJ
4. 4.

   Kira reads a model pyramid. The producers hold 10,000 kJ and the primary consumers hold 1,000 kJ. What percent passes up?

   • 100 percent
   • 90 percent
   • 10 percent
   • 1 percent
5. 5.

   “not to scale” Luz reads a pond model. About 10 percent of the algae's energy passes to the snails. What goes in the blank?

   • 4,500 kJ
   • 50 kJ
   • 5,000 kJ
   • 500 kJ
6. 6.

   Milo wants the word for any step in a food chain, from the producers up. Which word fits?

   • Apex consumer
   • Producer
   • Trophic level
   • Decomposer
7. 7.

   Pia reads about decomposers in a food web. Which sentence describes their job?

   • They break down wastes and remains and return matter to the ecosystem
   • They form the top level and hold the most energy
   • They make their own food from sunlight
   • They return energy to the producers to be used again

8. Read this first

   Use this

   Energy passes to the next step up, and some is used for life or lost as heat at each step.

10. 8.

    Ren sees that the secondary consumers hold far less than the producers. Where did most of the producers' energy go?

    • Most was used for life processes or left as heat
    • It went back to the sun as light
    • It passed up to the secondary consumers
    • It was destroyed at the first step
11. 9.

    Tala traces how energy moves through the pyramid. Which description is right?

    Use the picture in question 8.

    • Around in a circle, from the top step back to the producers
    • One way, up from the producers, with some lost as heat at each step
    • Up the steps, but destroyed at each step, so nothing arrives
    • One way, down from the top step to the producers

12. Use this

    Energy pyramid (model data), not to scale, 4 steps from the bottom. Unit: kJ. Bottom step: producers (grass), 10,000 kJ. Second step: primary consumers (grasshoppers), 1,000 kJ. Third step: secondary consumers, 100 kJ. Top step: tertiary consumers, 10 kJ.

13. 10.

    Zee reads a model pyramid of energy. Which level holds the most energy?

    • Producers
    • Primary consumers
    • The four levels hold equal amounts
    • Tertiary consumers