Building Ecological Pyramids

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.
The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.
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
biomass, consumer, ecological pyramid, ecosystem, floodplain, grassland, intensity of use, limestone gorge, producer, savanna, species abundance, stability, trophic level, woodland
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.
Curriculum Connections
HS-LS2-1, HS-LS2-2, HS-LS2-4, HS-LS2-6; SEP1, SEP2, SEP3, SEP4, SEP5
ENE-1.H, ENE-1.M, ENE-1.N, ENE-1.O; SP2, SP3, SP4, SP5, SP6
4.1, 4.2, C.1, C.2
II.A, II.C
2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5
ELA.RST.9–12.3, ELA.RST.9–12.7, ELA.RST.9–12.9
Math.S-ID.3, Math.S-IC.4
CC4, CC5; DP1, DP2, DP3