Name: Jiulia Morales

PT 7.3: Trophic Levels

____________________________

Learning Target
(HS-LS2-4) I can use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling
of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.

Guiding Question
How are matter and energy transferred in an ecosystem?

Task 1 - Vocabulary Review

DIRECTIONS: Answer the following questions. Refer to your PT 7.3 notes for the answers.
1. A producer which is also known as an ___________ can produce their own Autotrophs
food and gain energy from the sun.

2. A consumer which is also known as a ___________ consumes other plants Heterotrophs

and animals for energy.

3. This consumer only eats meat. Carnivore

4. This consumer only eats plants. Herbivore

5. This consumer eats plants and animals. Omnivore

6. A ___________ kills and eats other animals. These animals that are eaten Predator
are known as ___________.
Prey

7. A ___________ _______ shows how producers and consumers depend on Food web (food
one another for food. chain)

8. In a food web, the arrows point TO the ___________ and AWAY from the Consumer
organism being ___________.
Consumed

9. A ___________ ___________shows the levels of consumption among Trophic pyramid

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 producers and consumers.

10. ___________ create their own food. Producers

11. What do primary consumers eat? Producers

12. What are primary consumers known as in an ecosystem? Herbivores and

omnivores of
the ecosystem

13. What do secondary consumers eat? Primary

consumers

14. Secondary Consumers are the ___________ and ___________ of the Carnivores
ecosystem.
Omnivores

15. What do tertiary consumers eat? Secondary and

primary
consumers

16. Tertiary consumers are the _____ ___________ of the ecosystem. Top predator

17. A trophic pyramid shows the flow of ___________ between organisms in energy
an ecosystem.

18. How much energy is transferred between each trophic level? 10%

19. A ___________ shows the amount of mass that each trophic level needs Biomass
in order to support the organism above it. pyramid

20. On the trophic pyramid below, label each level of the pyramid and the energy transfers.

Trophic Level % Energy Transfer

1 Tertiary A 0.1%
consumers

2 Secondary B 1%
consumers

3 Primary C 10%
consumers

4 Producers D 100%

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 Answer questions 9-11 based on the food
pyramid to the left.

21. Which organism is a producer in this food

pyramid? Which are consumers?
The producer is the grass and the
consumers are the rabbits.

22. Where does the producer get its energy?

The producer gets its energy from the
sun, soil, and carbon dioxide.

23. State which organism in this food chain is a

predator and which organism is a prey.
(hint they might be both!)
The rabbits are prey. The snakes are both
a predator and a prey. The hawk is a
predator.

Task 2 - Predator/Prey Interactions

DIRECTIONS: For this task you will explore a simulation of predators and prey.
1. Open this simulator: Ecology Lab. You may want to split your screen so you can look at
this document while running the simulation.
2. The simulation will start with Plant A and Plant B highlighted. Click on the rabbit and
then select “eats plant A.” Run the simulation until it reaches 100 days. Enter the final
totals of each organism's population in Table 1 below.
a. You can see the population numbers by hovering your mouse cursor over the line on the graph.
3. Click “Presets.” Click on the rabbit and then select “eats plant B.” Run the simulation until
it reaches 100 days. Enter the final totals in Table 1 below.
4. Click “Presets” again. Click the rabbit and then select BOTH “eats plant A” & “eats plant
B.” Run the simulation until it reaches 100 days. Enter the final totals in Table I below.
Table I
Plant A final Plant B final Rabbit final
population population population

Rabbit (eats only plant A) 3335 4998 2055

Rabbit (eats only plant B) 10000 0 0

Rabbit (eats both Plant A & B) 0 3333 6667

5. Click “Presets.” Click on the rabbit and then select “eats plant A.” Click on the snail and
then select “eats plant B.” Click on the deer and then select BOTH “eats plant A” & “eats

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 plant B.” Run the simulation until it reaches 100 days. Describe what happened to both
plants and the 3 herbivores.
The rabbits died out, plant a died out, the number of snails lessened, plant b
maintained a stable population, and the number of deer increased.

6. Click “Presets.” Select “plant C.” Click on the snail and then select BOTH “eats plant A” &
“eats plant B.” Click on the squirrel and select “eats plant A,” “eats plant B,” “eats plant C,”
and “eats snails.” Describe what happens to the squirrel in this setting. Fill in Table II.
The squirrel has many food options to choose from and the population greatly
increases.

Table II
Plant A Plant B Plant C Snail Squirrel

Final Population 2 5006 0 0 14978

7. Click “All Off.” Select plant A, the rabbit that “eats plant A,” and the wolf that “eats
herbivore A.” Run the simulation until it reaches 100 days. Describe what happened in
this ecosystem then enter the population numbers of each organism at the days
specified in Table III below.
The wolf population stayed small but the rabbit population was maintained by the
wolves. The rabbits being maintained made plant A thrive.

Table III
Day 5 Day 20 Day 50 Day 100

Plant A population 3924 3850 4547 4980

Rabbit population 3114 2306 1801 1672

Wolf population 13 41 126 165

8. Describe the relationship between the populations of each of the organisms in this
ecosystem based on all the simulations you just completed. (minimum of 5 sentences!)
The wolf population increased at every mark, their population number was higher
than the last. With more wolves present, the rabbit population decreased. The wolves’
presence caused a decline in the rabbit population at every mark which could have
been due to the rabbits being prey. With the rabbit population decreasing, the
population of plant A increased. The fewer rabbits in the ecosystem meant that plant A
was able to thrive without being eaten. Each organism, whether it has a higher or
lower population, affects the other organisms it shares that ecosystem with.