Ecological Energy Organization by Aryan Doshi

 Ecology is the study of relationships between living organisms. They are either producers or consumers. Producers are creatures that feed themselves. Plants, grass, and trees are all examples. Consumers are individuals that gain their food by consuming other living beings. Some of these relationships studied in ecology involve the flow of energy. For instance, a hawk eating a rabbit. The travel of energy can be organized by an Ecological Pyramid. 

One way is an Ecological Pyramid. This is set up as a triangle with lines to make separate sections. Each level is called a tropic or feeding level and contains organisms. The bottom level is reserved for producers. Grass are producers because they use photosynthesis to gain energy and nutrients.  The level above producers is called primary consumers. Primary consumers only eat producers. Beetles can be primary consumers in an environment. Next are secondary consumers and tertiary consumers. Both trophic levels consume the primary level, but the tertiary consumers can also feed on the secondary level. Frogs would be a secondary consumer, while a snake could be a tertiary consumer. Atop the energy pyramid are quaternary consumers. These are the apex predators and have no predators. Bears follow this description. 

A crucial topic to comprehend is the 10% rule. This rule states that 90% of the energy in an organism is used by the body or released through heat. Only 10% move to the next trophic level. If a producer generates 10,000 calories, then the primary consumer only gets 1,000 calories. This rule continues as you move up the pyramid. 

https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/energy-pyramid/611153

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFwODCe8vYA