Rainforest Food Webs

Science · Rainforests · ages 7-9

Name ______________________ Date ____________

What do we call a living thing that eats other living things for energy, like an animal that eats plants or other animals?
- Producer
- Decomposer
- Consumer
Which word describes a living thing that makes its own food, like a plant?
- Consumer
- Producer
- Decomposer
Decomposers, like fungi and insects, break down dead plants and animals.
Circle one: True False
A monkey eats fruit from a fig tree. What is the correct term for the monkey in this food chain?
- Producer
- Primary consumer
- Secondary consumer
Look at this rainforest food chain. Which one is the producer, making its own food using sunlight?
- Fig tree
- Monkey
- Jaguar
Count the levels in this food chain: producer, herbivore, predator. How many levels does it have?
Answer: ______________
A jaguar dies in the rainforest. Decomposers slowly break down its body. Where do the nutrients go next?
- Into the jaguar's bones forever
- Nowhere, the nutrients disappear completely
- Into the soil, where tree roots can use them to grow
Mia says, 'Decomposers eat living plants and animals, just like predators do.' What is wrong with what Mia said?
- Mia is completely right
- Decomposers only break down things that are already dead
- Decomposers are actually producers

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Consumer · Any living thing that eats other living things for energy is a consumer.
Producer · A producer makes its own food using sunlight. Plants and trees are producers.
True · That's right. Decomposers get to work on anything that has died, turning it into nutrients for the soil.
Primary consumer · An animal that eats a producer, like fruit from a tree, is called a primary consumer, or herbivore.
Fig tree · The fig tree makes its own food using sunlight, so it's the producer. The monkey and jaguar both have to eat other living things.
3 · A simple food chain like this one has three levels: producer, herbivore, and predator.
Into the soil, where tree roots can use them to grow · Decomposers release nutrients into the soil. Plant roots soak up those nutrients, so the energy keeps moving through the food web.
Decomposers only break down things that are already dead · Decomposers only break down dead material. Predators are the ones that hunt living animals.