Finding Trophic Levels

Can you find representatives of the four trophic levels in your ecosystem?

Food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids are three models that ecologists use to trace the flow of energy from organism to organism in an ecosystem. Click the Activity button to download the Finding Trophic Levels worksheet. You will use this worksheet to create a model of the flow of energy through a field ecosystem. When you are finished, take a photograph of your model and submit it and this worksheet to your teacher.

Saric, licensed through CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), via Wikimedia Commons

The trophic levels in any ecosystem.

How To

Meet your new study partner! With our powerful Student Tools, your online learning experience just got more accessible, personalized, and thought-provoking than ever before!

Do you feel like you learn better when you watch videos? You’re not alone! Research shows instructional videos can make learners more engaged and active in online classes, when compared to text-only lessons.

Student Tools lets you turn some lesson pages into videos instantly! Just click the Student Tools tab and select Video. Remember, video instruction is not available on every lesson page.

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Sometimes when you learn, it can feel like you’re just not getting it. Maybe you don’t really know what all the words on the page mean, or you have to read a paragraph two or three times to understand what it’s about.

If this happens to you, just click the Student Tools tab and choose “Text.” This will automatically simplify the instruction, making it easier to understand and remember.

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The science is in, and taking notes is one of the best ways to reinforce your learning. Notes work even better when you write them by hand, since you’re more likely to put complex new ideas in your own words and remember them longer.

You can quickly and easily access guided notes, as well as key lesson vocabulary, by clicking Student Tools > Notes. Choose a PDF or Word Doc, and fill them out online -- or even better-- print them out and take notes by hand!

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Imagine a teacher you can contact anytime, who is happy to answer all your questions and knows pretty much everything in the world about the subject you need help with.

Say, “Hello!” to your Tutor! Click on Student Tools > Tutor, and ask any question about your class. Your Tutor is super smart! You can ask the Tutor to explain things more clearly, make connections between ideas, or even give you custom quizzes and feedback. You can click the links under References to learn more.

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Student Tools lets you create your own Flashcard decks to help you study. To get started, click Student Tools > Flashcards. Press Add New Set and give it a title.

Now, decide what will be on the front and back of your first card. It can be a term and definition, a challenging question, or even a funny phrase that helps you remember something. Click Add Card to Set to make a new Flashcard. You can delete sets or cards by clicking the trash can icon. When you’re done, click Save Cards to Set.

Now you can Review your deck. Read the front of the card, and think of the answer. Even better, say your answer out loud! Then, click the card to flip it over. Depending on how you did, you can either keep that card in the deck to study again by clicking Next or Previous, or if you got it right, click remove.

Remember to review your flashcards often, space out study sessions, and keep practicing until you know them all!

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