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Video: Energy Pyramid - posted from Cohoes, NY
If you have a subscription to BrainPop there is a short video about Energy Pyramids.
You’re familiar with the food chain—plants get eaten by animals, which get eaten by predators, and so on. But have you ever wondered why the food chain exists in the first place? Well, wonder no more. In the BrainPOP movie on the energy pyramid, Tim explains that the food chain is nature’s way of distributing energy throughout entire ecosystems! It all starts with photosynthesis: You’ll discover how plants, algae, and other producers convert the sun’s heat energy into glucose, a form of chemical energy that fuels all life! You’ll learn why there are fewer organisms at the top of the food chain than at the bottom, and how all the energy contained in your body originally came from the sun! Finally, you’ll find out why so little of the energy animals consume is stored in their bodies, and where the rest of it goes. Although we sort of wish the energy pyramid had mummies and treasure in it, it’s still pretty cool, so click the button and learn!
Video: Food Webs - posted from Cohoes, NY
If you have a subscription there is a short video on Food Webs.
Everybody eats! Sort of! All living things need food to survive, whether they make it on their own or chow down on other organisms. Food is so important because it’s how organisms get the energy they need to live and grow. That’s why scientists map out food webs, models that show who eats whom in an ecosystem. For consumers, like us humans, food is other organisms. Decomposers get their food from other organisms, as well. But if you trace the individual paths—or food chains—within food webs, you’ll find that they all start with producers. Those are organisms who make their own food. Plants and algae do it by harnessing energy from sunlight, through the process of photosynthesis. And they aren’t the only ones who run on sun. When animals eat these plants and algae, they’re getting energy from sunlight, too. In fact, scientists thought that all living things got their energy from sunlight—until an adventure to the deep sea made them think again. Press “play” to find out what they discovered!