Rocket tapes paper arrows across the workshop wall. "Sun, grass, grasshopper, frog!"
Raven studies the line. "What do you notice at the start? And at the end?"
"The sun starts it," says Rocket. "The frog ends it. Then what?"
Nova hums. "Nothing lasts forever," she hints. "Who gets the frog in the end?"
Rocket grabs one more arrow and writes a very long word on it.
A food chain shows who eats whom, one step at a time.
It starts with the sun, because the sun gives energy to producers.
Next comes a producer, like grass or a tree.
Then come consumers. A plant eater first, then an animal eater.
Every arrow points to the eater. The energy moves along the arrows.
At the end, decomposers break down whatever dies. The nutrients return to the soil.
| Step | Example | Job in the chain |
|---|---|---|
| energy source | the sun | powers the producer |
| producer | grass | makes food from light |
| first consumer | grasshopper | eats the producer |
| second consumer | frog | eats the first consumer |
| third consumer | heron | eats the second consumer |
| decomposer | fungi, bacteria, worms | break down what dies |
Not all the energy moves from one link to the next.
A grasshopper uses most of the grass energy to hop, grow and stay warm.
Only some is left for the frog that eats it.
That is why a chain usually has only a few links.
It is also why there are more plants than plant eaters.
And there are more plant eaters than the animals that eat them.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Every food chain needs a producer. | ? |
| All the energy in grass ends up in the frog. | ? |
| There are usually more plants than plant eaters. | ? |
| A food chain can have a hundred links. | ? |
Chain complete! Tomorrow we tangle many chains together into a food web.