The Flow of Energy
When plants photosynthesize, they use the sun's energy to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar. Photosynthesis is how plants get energy. But herbivores, such as rabbits or deer, they get energy from eating plants. Wolves or mountain lions are carnivorous animals, so they get energy from eating other animals, such as rabbits and deer. This chain of progression is called the Energy Flow. It shows us how energy progresses from the sun to plants, to animals, and eventually, to us. But along the way, energy is lost.
Each level after plants is called a tertiary level, and with each tertiary level added, there is less and less energy left. In fact, with each tertiary level, 90% of the energy is lost. So the rabbit and deer would only get 10% of the energy that the plant had. The wolf or mountain lion only gets 1% of the energy from the plant, and with every level after that, the energy is less and less. |
Energy Efficiency
It's important for us to make the most of the energy that we have, and to make sure that it's clean energy. We want to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in order to help improve our air quality and global warming. What can we do as individuals? Well, there's actually a lot that we can do to improve greenhouse gas emissions.
There's plenty of small things that we can all do at home, such as replace incandescent light bulbs with LEDs. LEDs are more expensive, but they are dramatically more efficient, and they can last for up to 20 years. The investment is worth it.
We can make sure that all of our home appliances are Energy Star Certified. This means that those products are certified energy savers. Installing home solar panels is a great way to conserve energy. Some energy companies will even pay you for the energy that your solar panels make! |