It's About Time
Energy Flow in Ecosystems
Emerging biochemists more fully understand the flow of energy in ecosystems as they explore the laws of thermodynamics and relate them to energy transfer in food chains. They also investigate heat loss from the human body and how...
Captain Planet Foundation
Energy Flow in the Garden
How can you tell what an owl has eaten? Study the food chain and flow of energy in an ecosystem by dissecting an owl pellet and noting the bones found inside. Additionally, the instructional activity includes a game about consumers and...
Curated OER
Energy Flow Through Ecosystems
Middle or high school environmental studies classes will learn much from this presentation on energy in ecosystems. It covers the foundational topics of trophic levels, food webs, and nutrient cycles using informational text and...
NOAA
An Ocean of Energy
Young biologists trace the path of the sun's energy through marine ecosystems in the second part of this four-lesson series. Building on prior knowledge about producers, consumers, and decomposers young scholars are introduced to the...
Curated OER
Flow of Energy Through An Ecosystem
In this flow of energy in an ecosystem, students complete a graphic organizer and show the flow of energy from the sun to producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers and then decomposers. Students define each of...
Biology Junction
Energy Flow in an Ecosystem
Every living thing requires a food source, thus the interconnections in ecosystems become complex. Scholars learn about these interconnections in a presentation on energy flow. It starts with the sun and moves through many different...
Curated OER
Dynamics of Ecosystems
A set of guided notes walks your biology or environmental studies learners through the dynamics of ecosystems. They write short answers to questions about the energy budget, food webs, trophic levels, and biogeochemical cycles. One way...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Modeling Food Webs in Darién, Panama
It's a jungle out there! Young biologists journey to Darien, Panama to examine the intricate relationships between the organisms that inhabit the jungle. Groups begin by demonstrating an understanding of energy flow in ecosystems, then...
Curated OER
Use Concept Maps to Teach the Transfer of Energy
Practical tips, lessons, and ideas for teaching the transfer of energy.
Curated OER
Go With the Energy Flow
Students explore energy and nutrient flow. For this science lesson, students diagram the flow of energy through food chains and food webs. Students discuss the importance of energy flow in Earth's ecosystems.
Shelby County Schools
How Ecosystems Work
How does one organism get its energy? What is the main source of energy in an ecosystem? How does the flow of energy affect different types of ecosystems? Answer these questions with a fill-in-the-blank worksheet.
Virginia Department of Education
Go with the Flow
How does nature's hierarchy relate to our local human environment? Answer this question, along with others, as the class visually depicts the natural hierarchy provided by nature. Pupils discuss each piece of the pyramid and its energy...
University of California
Energy and Biomass Pyramids
Young scientists play tag as they act out the food pyramid in the ocean ecosystem. Energy circles pass from the smaller prey to the predators and at the end of the activity, a data chart and analysis questions allow pupils to apply their...
University of Georgia
The Power of Peanuts
Measure the amount of energy in a peanut by igniting a chemical reaction. Classes use a laboratory setup to burn a peanut and measure the amount of heat it releases through a temperature analysis. They calculate the number of Joules of...
Curated OER
Cycling of Matter and Energy
These twenty various types of questions related to the cycling of matter and energy require students to match each definition in column 1 with the correct vocabulary term from column 2. Then, students explain what is being demonstrated...
Biology Junction
Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem: Food Chains, Food Webs, and Energy Pyramids
When a minnow eats a piece of plastic, that garbage often tracks through multiple animals, causing harm to each as it passes through the food chain. Scholars learn about food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids with a presentation. It...
Science Matters
Ecosystem Pre-Assessment
Test scholars' knowledge of ecosystems with a 20-question pre-assessment. Assessment challenges learners to answer multiple choice questions, read diagrams, and complete charts.
Curated OER
Circle of Life
Here is a well-designed science lesson that shows learners that everything that organisms do in ecosystems, including running, breathing, burrowing, growing, requires energy. After a thorough discussion of their own eating and drinking...
NOAA
Understanding Food Chains and Food Webs
Jump into an exploration of marine ecosystems with the first lesson in this four-part series. After first learning about crustaceans, mollusks, and other forms of sea life, young marine biologists view a PowerPoint presentation that...
Curated OER
Plants and Animals
Seventh graders discover the interconnectedness of plants and animals in ecosystems. In groups, they create a food web and discuss the problems when one link of the chain is broken. To end the lesson, they set up a balanced environment...
Curated OER
Energy Flow and the Food Chain
Students complete discussions and worksheets about the Hawaiian food chain. For this food chain lesson plan, students research decomposers, consumers, and producers.
Curated OER
The Mighty Hudson Stretches its Mussels
Students brainstorm possible causes of zebra mussel migration and population expansion. They identify the key causes and effects of the disturbance of the Hudson River ecosystem and research causes and effects in the disturbances of...
Alliance Theater
The Jungle Book Post-Show STEAM Lesson
An ecosystem is really just the flow of energy through many different living organisms. A study of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book leads to an environmental science activity in which learners study how various factors can affect...
Science Matters
Energy Flow
Budding scientists work collaboratively to reenact energy flow in a food chain. Scholars take on roles such as producer and consumer and perform tasks that symbolize energy flow in order to provide evidence of how much energy passes...