Energy Flow

Energy flow is the movement of energy through an ecosystem. It involves the transfer of energy from one organism to another within a food chain or food web.

Key Concepts

• Energy Transfer: Energy is transferred from producers (plants) to consumers (animals) as they eat and are eaten by other organisms in the ecosystem.
• Food Chains: Show the flow of energy from one organism to another. For example, grass is eaten by a grasshopper, which is then eaten by a frog, and so on.
• Food Webs: A network of interconnected food chains that more accurately represents the complex feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
• Trophic Levels: Each step in a food chain or food web represents a trophic level. Producers are at the first trophic level, followed by primary consumers (herbivores), secondary consumers (carnivores), and so on.

Study Guide

Here are some questions to help you study the topic of energy flow:

1. What is energy flow in an ecosystem?
2. How is energy transferred from one organism to another?
3. What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?
4. What are trophic levels and how do they relate to energy flow?
5. Give an example of a simple food chain and identify the trophic levels of the organisms involved.
6. Explain the concept of energy pyramids and how they illustrate energy flow in an ecosystem.