Energy Flow through Ecosystems

Resource Type
Description
This Click & Learn traces the flow of energy from the Sun all the way to cells within organisms. The embedded questions and calculations guide students’ understanding of how energy is distributed through a variety of ecosystems.
Most students are familiar with the concept of energy transfer within ecosystems. But how does energy enter an ecosystem, and what role does it play in the structure of the ecosystem? In this Click & Learn, students explore the source of Earth’s energy and the factors that control how much energy ends up in different trophic levels.
This Click & Learn is an interdisciplinary overview of the movement of energy through ecosystems and could be used as an introduction to the concept or as a summative experience.
Student Learning Targets
- Calculate the amounts of energy entering different ecosystems around the world.
- Explain factors that lead to variation in energy in different ecosystems.
- Explain how the movement and transfer of energy within an ecosystem influences the trophic structure.
Estimated Time
Key Terms
biomass, cellular respiration, consumer, electromagnetic radiation, food chain, photosynthesis, producer, productivity, solar energy, trophic level
Terms of Use
Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.
Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)
Version History
NGSS 2013
HS-LS1-5, HS-LS1-7, HS-LS2-4; SEP5
AP Biology 2019
ENE-1.H, ENE-1.M, ENE-1.N, ENE-1.O; SP4
IB Biology 2016
4.2, C.2
AP Environmental Science 2020
Topic(s): 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11
Learning Objectives & Practices: ENG-1.A–D; SP5, SP6
IB Environmental Systems and Societies 2017
2.3
Common Core 2010
Math.A-SSE.1
Vision and Change 2009
CC2, CC4, DP2