Pyramids of biomass
I can create and interpret pyramids of biomass.
Pyramids of biomass
I can create and interpret pyramids of biomass.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Food chains show feeding relationships between organisms and how food moves from one organism to another in a habitat.
- Biomass is the mass of living material in one or more organisms, and may be estimated.
- Pyramids of biomass show the biomass of organisms at each stage in a food chain.
- Pyramids of biomass use scaled bars to represent the total mass of organisms within a habitat.
- Pyramids of biomass have the producer at the bottom.
Keywords
Biomass - Biomass is the mass of living material in one or more organisms.
Pyramid of biomass - A pyramid of biomass is a diagram which shows the biological mass (biomass) of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain diagram.
Pyramid of numbers - A pyramid of numbers is a diagram which shows the total number of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain diagram.
Common misconception
A common misconception is that the biomass increases as you move to the next trophic level, presumably because pupils incorrectly assume that biomass refers to individuals rather than populations.
The lesson gets pupils to estimate the biomass of populations at each trophic level to demonstrate that biomass decreases at each trophic level.
Equipment
calculator
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
producer
primary consumer
secondary consumer
tertiary consumer
apex predator
Exit quiz
6 Questions
