1. Food Chains

2. Read and discuss the information and vocabulary given
Crickweb | Food Chain
Paraphrase the first paragraph that explains a food chain and then hold your mouse over the pictures in the food chain below.
Read and discuss the information and vocabulary given 2

3. Where does an object get its energy?
From the food it eats.
How do we know which way the arrow should point in a food chain?
The arrow points to the organism the energy is being transferred to.
Can an organism get its energy from more than one organism? Why or why not?
How does this relate to us and what we eat?

4. Consumers (herbivores and omnivores) eat the producers.
Every food chain or web must begin with energy from the Sun and then a producer (green plant).
Consumers (herbivores and omnivores) eat the producers.
Other consumers (carnivores or omnivores) then eat the herbivores or smaller carnivores. 4

5. Every food chain or web finally ends with decomposers (worms, ants, bacteria, fungi, etc) that feed on energy stored in the wastes or remains of producers and consumers.
These decomposers are one of natures “recyclers”. They recycle nutrients and put them back into the soil for new plants to grow. 5

7. Producers A living thing that can make it’s own food, such as plants 7
Definition from Brain Pop Jr. 7

8. Consumers
A living thing that eats another living thing for food and energy
Definition from Brain Pop Jr. 8

9. Decomposers
Organisms that eat the wastes or the remains of other organisms
Worms, ants, bacteria, fungi 9

10. Herbivores Consumers that only eat plants
Ex: cows, deer, giraffes, grasshopper, caterpillar, zebra, 10

11. Omnivores
Consumers that eat plants and animals
Ex: humans, bears 11

12. Carnivores Consumers that eat meat
Ex: lions, tigers, wolves, shark, cougar, hawk, snake 12

13. Predators An animal that hunts other animals for food 13
Definition from Brain Pop Jr. 13

14. Prey An animal that is eaten by other animals 14
Definition from Brain Pop Jr. 14

15. Let’s go on a nature walk. What might we see
Let’s go on a nature walk! What might we see? Maybe flowers along the forest path. The flowers get their energy to grow from the __________.
air
Sun
producers

16. What else uses that energy to grow
What else uses that energy to grow? There goes a rabbit hopping across the path! The rabbit gets its energy from eating__________.
grass
Sun
prey

17. The rabbit’s energy could then be transferred to a ________, if it gets eaten. It’s amazing how many depend on the Sun’s energy!
producer
shark
coyote

18. The Sun’s energy gets to Earth. Let’s think about where it goes
The Sun’s energy gets to Earth. Let’s think about where it goes. The energy first goes to ________, which use the Sun’s energy to grow.
rabbits
plants
consumers

19. Now, think about animals
Now, think about animals. Animals get their energy to grow from what they ____.
eat
breathe
see

20. Food chains are made up of many parts
Food chains are made up of many parts. If one of those parts is __________, or taken out, it affects other parts.
Stays the same
removed
concerned

21. Imagine the desert. The Sun’s energy goes to a cactus, then to a beetle, then to a bird. What happens if the birds are taken away? The ____________ would have no predator, which means they would increase in number.
cacti
beetles
birds

22. More beetles means that more ______ is eaten! What else might happen?
Cactus
beetles
birds