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

   not to scale. Bo reads a pyramid. Energy passes from the grass to the grasshoppers on step X. Which level is step X?

   • Producers
   • Decomposers
   • Primary consumers
   • Secondary consumers
3. 3.

   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?

   • Secondary consumers
   • Tertiary consumers, the top level
   • Primary consumers, the second level
   • Producers, the base level
4. 4.

   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?

   • 1,000 kJ
   • 100 kJ
   • 9,000 kJ
   • 10,000 kJ
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?

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

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

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

   Noah is learning the term food chain. Which description fits it best?

   • A stack of bars that shows the energy at each level
   • A single path along which energy and nutrients pass from one organism to the next
   • A circle in which energy returns to the producers
   • Many paths joined together into one web
8. 8.

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

   • They return energy to the producers to be used again
   • They make their own food from sunlight
   • They break down wastes and remains and return matter to the ecosystem
   • They form the top level and hold the most energy
9. 9.

   Energy passes to the next step up, and some is used for life or lost as heat at each step. Tala traces how energy moves through the pyramid. Which description is right?

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

10. Read this first

    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.

11. 10.

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

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