Food Chains and Webs

Food Chains

Animals get energy and nutrients by eating other animals or plants.

For example

  • caterpillars eat leaves

  • mice eat caterpillars

  • owls eat mice

These links between animals and plants are called food chains. The arrow shows the energy going into the next animal- or is eaten by. Nearly all food chains start with a green plant. Most animals and plants are part of more than one food chain-

  1. Plants are called producers because they make their own food. They are at the start of a food chain. Plants get their energy from the Sun.

  2. Animals that eat plants are known as primary consumers.

  3. The primary consumer may be eaten by another animal called a secondary consumer or predator.

  4. When all living things die, they will become food for the decomposers, who break down dead remains (earthworms, beetles, fungi)

Food Webs

There are many different food chains within each habitat. Some animals like foxes eat a variety of animals so the chains can be interconnected to form a food web.