1.6 Trophic Levels

• Trophic levels describe the position an organism occupies in a food chain or food web
• Producers use photosynthesis or chemosynthesis to make their own food.
• Primary consumers are organisms that eat producers
• Decomposers break down dead organic matter.
• Producers make their own food using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis
• Secondary consumers eat primary consumers.
• Producers use photosynthesis or chemosynthesis to make their own food
• Match the trophic level with its definition:

  Producers ↔️ Make their own food

  Primary Consumers ↔️ Eat producers

  Secondary Consumers ↔️ Eat primary consumers
• Decomposers are organisms that break down dead matter
• Order the main trophic levels from the bottom to the top of a food chain:

  1️⃣ Producers

  2️⃣ Primary Consumers

  3️⃣ Secondary Consumers

  4️⃣ Tertiary Consumers
• Producers use photosynthesis or chemosynthesis to make their own food.
• Primary consumers eat producers
• Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers.
• Producers make their own food using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis
• What do producers use to make their own food?

  Photosynthesis or chemosynthesis
• Primary consumers obtain energy by eating producers
• Which type of consumer eats primary consumers?

  Secondary consumers
• Hawks are examples of tertiary consumers.
• Match the trophic level with its definition:

  Producers ↔️ Make their own food

  Primary Consumers ↔️ Eat producers

  Secondary Consumers ↔️ Eat primary consumers

  Tertiary Consumers ↔️ Eat secondary consumers
• Decomposers break down dead organic matter
• What is the initial source of energy in most ecosystems?

  Solar energy
• Only about 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next.
• The pyramid of energy is the most accurate representation of energy flow in an ecosystem.
• Match the ecological pyramid type with its description:

  Pyramid of Numbers ↔️ Depicts the number of organisms

  Pyramid of Biomass ↔️ Shows total dry weight

  Pyramid of Energy ↔️ Displays energy flow
• What happens to energy as it moves through an ecological pyramid?

  It decreases
• Energy loss in ecological pyramids follows the 10% rule.