Which visual aid best supports an investigation of energy flow through organisms in an ecosystem?

• A. A diagram of a food web
• B. A Punnett square
• C. A topographic map
• D. A cladogram

Answer: (A)

Understanding how energy moves through an ecosystem is shown most clearly by a diagram that maps who eats whom. A food web visually connects producers, herbivores, and various levels of consumers, illustrating multiple feeding relationships and the path energy takes from sunlight to organisms at different trophic levels. It captures the idea that energy flows through interconnected pathways, not just a single line, and it often highlights how energy diminishes at higher levels as it’s transferred from one organism to another. Arrows in a food web typically indicate the direction of energy transfer, helping to trace how energy moves through the community.

Other visuals don’t fit this purpose as well. A Punnett square focuses on genetic inheritance, not energy flow. A topographic map shows land features, which aren’t about feeding relationships. A cladogram depicts evolutionary relationships among species, not current energy transfer in an ecosystem.