Biomass Modeling
For teachers interested in giving their students an experience outside taking biomass measurements, I have created a functioning model in Microsoft Excel that takes the math away as an obstacle.
I would argue that understanding the math behind the final product leads to a greater understanding of how energy pyramids are created and the origin of the “10% rule”. However, things such as time constraints and math backgrounds can make the time investment required for true understanding not time effective. To that end, the model will do the calculations and graphing of the energy pyramid using the raw data that is produced in a biomass procedure. Honors classes or AP students could expand on the model or use it to do more sophisticated experiments.
Finally, here is a link to the screencast I made to explain the creation of the model.
