A food chain tells us what is eaten by what in an ecosystem.

To explain what a food chain is we first have to explore the links between plants and animals. How are plants and animals linked? Animals eat Plants

Why do some animals eat Plants? To get energy. Just like us, we eat food to get energy, without energy we cannot function. Were does all energy come from?

All energy comes from the sun Without this energy there would be no plants, animals or food.

The arrow points to the flow of energy at each stage

Producers This is something that makes its own energy. Are we Producers? Can we make our own energy? No we have to eat food to make energy.

Consumers These are animals that eat plants or other animals. There are 3 types of Consumer. Can you name them? Herbivore Carnivore Omnivore

Herbivores These are animals that do not eat other animals, they survive on plants.

Carnivores These are animals that eat only meat.

Omnivores Some animals, like us, eat both plants and animals.

What is a food web? It is just like a spiders web, it has lots of different strands. Animals just don’t eat the same thing all the time.

A food web

Food Pyramid

Everything works as a cycle, living things will eventually die. They rot and decompose in the soil. There are some things that help this decomposition. Minibeasts Bacteria Fungi These are called Decomposers.

Food Chain A food chain shows what is eaten and always starts with a plant. The grass is eaten by the rabbit

Food Chain The grass is eaten by the rabbit, and the rabbit is eaten by the fox.