What Is Going on Here?

The Almighty Food Chain

Producers vs. Consumers

Producers Producers are always at the beginning of a simple food chain. Producers make their own food by converting non-living things such as carbon dioxide, minerals, water and energy from the sun into food. This process is called photosynthesis. Examples of producers: Plants, vegetables and phytoplankton

Consumers Consumers are organisms that cannot make their own food, so they need to eat (consume) other plants and/or animals.

Consumers TOP PREDATORS CARNIVORES HERBIVORES The first three levels of consumers: TOP PREDATORS Predators that are not prey CARNIVORES Both a prey and predator HERBIVORES Eat producers for energy

Consumers: Homo sapiens What type of consumers are humans? OMNIVORES Most humans eat both plants and animals. We are considered herbivores and carnivores.

Constructing a Food Chain The Food Chain Constructing a Food Chain How do we construct a food chain? Step 1: Always start with a producer Step 2: Complete the rest of the food chain with consumers that feed on the previous member in the food chain Arrows are drawn from the prey to predator to show how energy is transferred from one organism to another

Make your own Food Chain How many different food chains can you make in 15 minutes?