Simple Food Chains
Describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify different sources of food
What a learner can do afterwards
- Draw a simple food chain with at least three organisms using arrows to show energy flow
- Explain that food chains always start with a plant (producer) that makes its own food
- Use the terms 'producer' and 'consumer' correctly when describing a food chain
The lesson
Every plant and animal needs food to get energy. A food chain shows who eats what, one step at a time. It always starts with a plant, because a plant can make its own food using sunlight. We call a plant like this a producer. Animals cannot make their own food, so they eat plants or other animals instead. We call these animals consumers.
A cow eats grass in a field. The grass is the producer, since it makes its own food from sunlight. The cow is a consumer, because it eats the grass to get its energy.
When you look at a food chain, follow the arrow. It always points toward the animal that is eating, showing where the energy goes next.
A food chain always starts with a producer, a plant, and the arrows show which consumer eats next.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.