BiologyFood Chains Show Who Eats Whom
A sunny meadow where Lumi crouches beside a patch of wildflowers, holding a magnifying glass and tracing a caterpillar on a leaf while a robin watches from a nearby branch
- Identify the sun as the starting source of energy in every food chain
- Explain the difference between a producer and a consumer using real examples
- Arrange organisms in the correct order along a food chain using arrows
- Predict what would happen to consumers if the producers in a habitat disappeared
- Compare the roles of at least two different consumers in the same food chain
Key terms
- Food chain
- A path that shows who eats whom.
- Producer
- A plant that makes its own food from sunlight.
- Consumer
- An animal that eats other living things.
- Arrow
- A mark that shows which way energy moves.
Plants Make The Food
A food chain always starts with the sun. The sun shines on a green plant, and the plant catches that sunlight. Inside its leaves, the plant turns sunlight into food. Because plants make their own food, we call them producers. They produce, which means make, the food. Every food chain needs producers, because they give energy to everything that comes next in the chain.
Animals Eat To Get Energy
Animals cannot catch sunlight to make food. They have to eat instead. We call them consumers because they consume, which means eat, other living things. A caterpillar eats a leaf to get energy. Then a robin eats the caterpillar to get energy. The energy keeps moving from one living thing to the next, passing along the food chain like a tasty relay race.
Reading The Arrows
We draw a food chain with arrows, like Sun to Grass to Caterpillar to Robin. The arrow always points to whoever is doing the eating. That is because the arrow shows which way the energy is moving. The grass gives energy to the caterpillar, so the arrow points at the caterpillar. Following the arrows helps you see exactly where the energy goes in the chain.
Worked examples
Build the food chain in order.
- Start with the sun, the source of energy.
- The grass is the producer that catches sunlight.
- The caterpillar eats the grass, then the robin eats the caterpillar.
Answer: Sun, then grass, then caterpillar, then robin.
What does the arrow in Grass to Rabbit mean?
- The arrow points from the grass to the rabbit.
- It shows the way energy is moving.
- The grass gives its energy to the rabbit that eats it.
Answer: The arrow shows energy passing from the grass to the rabbit.
Activity
Put these cards in the correct order to build a food chain, starting with the sun
Practice
Which living thing in a food chain is the producer?
What would happen to the robins if all the grass died?
Common mistakes to avoid
- The arrow points to the eater's food.The arrow points toward the animal doing the eating, following the energy.
- Animals make their own food too.Only producers like plants make food; animals must eat it.
Check your understanding
A grasshopper eats grass, and a frog eats the grasshopper. Which organism is the producer in this food chain?
What does the arrow mean when we write: Grass → Rabbit → Fox?
In the food chain Sun → Corn → Mouse → Owl, what would most likely happen if all the corn plants died?
Recap
A food chain starts with the sun and shows who eats whom. Producers like plants make food, and consumers like caterpillars and robins eat to get energy. Arrows point the way the energy moves.
Reflect
What food chain can you spot in a park near you?