The organisms in food chains can be represented in other ways. One of the ways is in an ecological, or energy, pyramid. You will learn about these pyramids in this activity.    

An ecological, or energy, pyramid is a model that illustrates the flow of energy through different forms of life in an ecosystem. (It shows the total amount of chemical energy that moves from one feeding level to another in the food web.)

Swiggity.Swag.YOLO.Bro, CC BY-SA 4.0

Producers are at the base of the pyramid. Above the producers are the different levels of consumers. More energy is available at the base of the pyramid than at the top. A pyramid may show the relative numbers of organisms or, as in the image above, the amount of energy available at each level in the food chain. (Only about 10 percent of the energy in one level is transferred to the next level.)

You have seen that energy is lost from the food chain at each level.

Energy is lost for the following reasons.

• Many organisms are not eaten. For example, from the image above, the grasshoppers do not eat all the grass in an area.

• Organisms use some energy for their growth and reproduction.

• Organisms also use energy for body functions, such as circulation and digestion.

• Some energy remains in organisms when they die. The decomposers break down dead organisms and take the remaining energy.