Food Chains & Food Webs

Science, Grade 4

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Producers are organisms, such as plants, that make their own food. Plants use sunlight to make their own food in a process known as photosynthesis. Consumers are organisms that eat other living things in order to get energy. Consumers include herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers. A food web is a system of overlapping food chains. An ecosystem has many food chains. An animal can be the eaten by many different animals and therefore be a part of many different food chains. Herbivores get energy by eating only plants. Carnivores get energy by eating only other animals. Omnivores get energy by eating both plants and other animals. Many aquatic microorganisms are producers too. Food Chains and Energy Flow The main energy source for all living things on Earth is the Sun. The process of energy being captured by plants from the Sun, and then transferred from one organism to the next in a food chain, is referred to as energy flow. As the energy is passed on from organism to organism along a food chain, the amount of energy becomes less and less. The more links on the food chain, the less energy each animal gets along the way. Sunlight and plants are the two most important things an ecosystem needs in order to always have a supply of energy. Sun energy Food Chains & Food Webs © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. 94-4405 www.newpathlearning.com
What is a producer? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ What is a consumer? _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ Describe the following: Herbivores ________________________ __________________________________ Carnivores ________________________ __________________________________ Omnivores ________________________ __________________________________ Decomposers ______________________ __________________________________ carnivore consumer decomposer ecosystem energy flow food chain food web herbivore omnivore photosynthesis producer Key Vocabulary Terms How does energy flow within an ecosystem? _______________________________________ _______________________________________ What is a food chain? _______________________________________ _______________________________________ What is a food web? _______________________________________ _______________________________________ Sun energy Food Chains and Energy Flow Food Chains & Food Webs © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. 94-4405 www.newpathlearning.com \|xiBAHBDy01715ozX