Building Ecological Pyramids

Topic
Resource Type
Level
High School — GeneralHigh School — AP/IBCollege
Favorited By
4 Users
Description

This activity supports using the citizen science platform WildCam Gorongosa in the classroom. It engages students into building biomass pyramids using data from trail camera photos of animals in Gorongosa National Park.

The activity begins with students learning about the animals in park by visiting WildCam Gorongosa. They then make predictions about which animals belong to different trophic levels. Students then visit WildCam Lab, a part of WildCam Gorongosa where they can view, filter, and download trail camera data. Students will build a biomass pyramid within an assigned vegetation type using those data. This activity allows students to develop and use models, organize and analyze real scientific data, and use Excel to perform calculations.

Student Learning Targets

  • Make predictions about the biomass relationships between trophic levels in an ecosystem.

  • Analyze quantitative data to create a biomass pyramid.

  • Describe the relationships between trophic levels and between ecosystems based on the shape of a biomass pyramid.

  • Formulate hypotheses and make observations about the stability of ecosystems based

on the biomass relationship between trophic levels.

 

Details
Estimated Time
Two to three 50-minute class periods.
Key Terms

biomass, consumer, ecological pyramid, ecosystem, floodplain, grassland, intensity of use, limestone gorge, producer, savanna, species abundance, stability, trophic level, woodland

Terms of Use

The resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. No rights are granted to use HHMI’s or BioInteractive’s names or logos independent from this Resource or in any derivative works.

Version History
Date Created
Date Modified
Curriculum Connections
NGSS (2013)

HS-LS2-1, HS-LS2-2, HS-LS2-4, HS-LS2-6; SEP1, SEP2, SEP3, SEP4, SEP5

AP Biology (2015)

2.A.1, 2.A.2; SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4, SP5, SP7

IB Biology (2016)

4.1, 4.2, C.1, C.2

AP Environmental Science (2013)

II.A, II.C

IB Environmental Systems and Societies (2017)

2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5

Common Core (2010)

ELA.RST.9–12.3, ELA.RST.9–12.7, ELA.RST.9–12.9
Math.S-ID.3, Math.S-IC.4

Vision and Change (2009)

CC4, CC5; DP1, DP2, DP3

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