Pyramids of number | Science | Quizalize & Oak National Academy

Starter quiz

Which organism is the producer in this food chain?
- cabbage ✓
- greenfly
- ladybird
Where do producers get their energy from?
- 'The Sun' ✓
Match the word to its description.
- herbivore
  
  ⇔
  
  organisms who only eat plant material ✓
- carnivore
  
  ⇔
  
  organisms that consume other animals ✓
- omnivore
  
  ⇔
  
  organisms that eat both plant and animal material ✓
Match the word to its description.
- predator
  
  ⇔
  
  animals that hunt and eat what they catch ✓
- prey
  
  ⇔
  
  animals that are hunted and eaten ✓
How many prey are there in this food chain?
- one
- two ✓
- three
- four
How many predators are there in this food chain?
- one
- two ✓
- three
- four

Exit quiz

What does a food chain show?
- how many organisms are in a habitat
- feeding relationships ✓
- how much biomass there is in each habitat
- the flow of energy in a habitat ✓
What is each level in a food chain called?
- 'trophic' ✓
Match the organism to its description.
- apex predator
  
  ⇔
  
  shark ✓
- producer
  
  ⇔
  
  phytoplankton ✓
- primary consumer
  
  ⇔
  
  zooplankton ✓
- tertiary consumer
  
  ⇔
  
  squid ✓
- secondary consumer
  
  ⇔
  
  shrimp ✓
Which organism is the producer in this pyramid of number?
- a
- b
- c
- d ✓
Who is right?
- Sam: Pyramids of number are always perfectly pyramid shaped.
- Lucas: Pyramids can be inverted because they don't consider organism size. ✓
- Izzy: There are always more organisms at the start of the food chain.
- Laura: Pyramids of number can't be inverted because they consider organism size.
How many grass plants are there in this pyramid of number?
- 7 000
- 16 000
- 14 000 ✓

Worksheet

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Video

Lesson Details

Key learning points

Food chains show the feeding relationships between organisms and the flow of energy through a habitat.
The number of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain can be used to create a pyramid of number.
Pyramids of number use scaled bars to represent the number of organisms.
Pyramids of number have the producer at the bottom.

Common misconception

Pupils often think that the size of organisms has to increase at each trophic level within a food chain diagram.

The lesson addresses the misconception through exemplification. There is coverage of inverted pyramid of number to show that some producers are larger organisms that are eaten by smaller organisms.

Keywords

Trophic level - A trophic level is the position of an organism in a food chain diagram.
Pyramid of number - A pyramid of number is a diagram which shows the total number of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain diagram.
Herbivore - An animal that only eats plants (producers) is called a herbivore.
Carnivore - An animal that eats other animals (consumers) is called a carnivore.
Omnivore - An animal that eats both plants (producers) and other animals (consumers) is called an omnivore.