Assessment
Ideally, the discussion about the Predictions and Planning Tool in this activity will reveal a range of student ideas. Level 4 students will realize that the mass of producers must be much larger than the mass of herbivores, which, in turn will be much larger than the mass of carnivores. Level 2 and 3 students may assume that the mass of producers, herbivores, and carnivores may be more equal or have other ideas about organic matter patterns in ecosystems. Use the 2.1 Assessing Predictions and Planning Tool for the Meadow Simulation to assess students' ideas.