Food Chains

(L) What is a food chain?

What is a food chain?

Food chains are a way

of thinking about how plants and animals in an ecosystem are interconnected.

food chain – shows how matter and energy flow through an ecosystem (one path)

All energy comes from the Sun

In almost every food chain on Earth, the energy comes from the Sun

Producers

Green plants are producers. They use sunlight to make their own food through photosynthesis.

Consumers

Consumers do not make their own food. They depend on other organisms to live.

Primary consumers

Some animals are primary consumers. They get ENERGY from plants or parts of plants to survive.

Secondary consumers

Secondary consumers get their ENERGY from other animals.

They are predators!

Predators

Predators are animals that eat other animals. The other animals are their prey.

What predators and prey do you know?

Tertiary consumers

Tertiary consumers are predators that get their ENERGY from other predators

Animals that get their ENERGY from animals are called carnivores

A pond food chain

The Sun

Duckweed

Mayfly nymph

Frog

Owl

Which is the producer? The consumers?

Journals

Correctly paste your food chains and trophic levels in your journals.

A frog is a consumer. It does not make its own food.

Think about it!

Which would you expect to find more of in an ecosystem—producers, or consumers?

You would find more producers, or green plants. All ecosystems must have more producers than consumers.

What have you learned?

Can you correctly read aloud each food chain?