Food Chain
* A food chain shows how each living thing gets food, and how nutrients and energy are passed from creature to creature. Food chains begin with a plant-life, and ends with an animal-life
Parts of the Food Chain
* Producers
These include all green plants. Plants are called producers. This is because they produce their own food! They do this by using light energy from the Sun, carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil to produce food - in the form of glucose/sugar.
These are also known as autotrophs, since they make their own food. Producers are able to harness the energy of the sun to make food.
The process is called photosynthesis.
* Consumers
Consume means “eat”
Animals are consumer because they eat (consume) food provided by plants and other animals.
They also called Heterotrophs because animals cannot make their own food so they must eat plants and/or other animals. In short, consumers are every organism that eats something else.
Types of Consumer:
1.
Animals that eat ONLY PLANTS
They are called Primary Consumers.
2.
Animals that eat OTHER ANIMALS * Carnivores that eat herbivores are called secondary consumers. * Carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers. * Predators - kill for food. They are either secondary or tertiary consumers – e.g. Tigers, Eagles * Prey - are the organisms that predators feed on. Examples of predator and prey species are: fox and rabbit; bird and caterpillar; rat and snake.
3.
Animals and people who eat BOTH animals and plants
4.
They eat decaying matter - dead plants and animals and in the process they break them down and decompose them, when that happens, they release nutrients and mineral salts back into the soil - which then will be used by plants.
They do not 'eat' the food like scavengers, as they have no mouth-parts. Instead they break down solid matter into liquids which they can absorb.
* Primary Consumer
Parts of the Food Chain
* Producers
These include all green plants. Plants are called producers. This is because they produce their own food! They do this by using light energy from the Sun, carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil to produce food - in the form of glucose/sugar.
These are also known as autotrophs, since they make their own food. Producers are able to harness the energy of the sun to make food.
The process is called photosynthesis.
* Consumers
Consume means “eat”
Animals are consumer because they eat (consume) food provided by plants and other animals.
They also called Heterotrophs because animals cannot make their own food so they must eat plants and/or other animals. In short, consumers are every organism that eats something else.
Types of Consumer:
1.
Animals that eat ONLY PLANTS
They are called Primary Consumers.
2.
Animals that eat OTHER ANIMALS * Carnivores that eat herbivores are called secondary consumers. * Carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers. * Predators - kill for food. They are either secondary or tertiary consumers – e.g. Tigers, Eagles * Prey - are the organisms that predators feed on. Examples of predator and prey species are: fox and rabbit; bird and caterpillar; rat and snake.
3.
Animals and people who eat BOTH animals and plants
4.
They eat decaying matter - dead plants and animals and in the process they break them down and decompose them, when that happens, they release nutrients and mineral salts back into the soil - which then will be used by plants.
They do not 'eat' the food like scavengers, as they have no mouth-parts. Instead they break down solid matter into liquids which they can absorb.
* Primary Consumer