On the creek path, Rocket spots a robin tugging a worm from the grass.
"Breakfast!" he whispers. "That robin found a snack."
Raven writes fast. "What do you notice? The robin eats the worm. What does the worm eat?"
Rocket frowns. "Dirt?" Nova projects a cyan arrow from the grass to the robin.
"Follow the arrows," she says. "Each one points toward the eater."
A consumer is a living thing that gets energy by eating.
Every animal is a consumer. Consumers cannot make their own food.
Scientists sort consumers by what they eat.
A herbivore eats only plants. A rabbit nibbling clover is a herbivore.
A carnivore eats other animals. A hawk that catches a mouse is a carnivore.
An omnivore eats both plants and animals. Many birds are omnivores.
They eat seeds and berries, and they also eat insects and worms.
| Kind of consumer | What it eats | A backyard example |
|---|---|---|
| herbivore | plants only | a rabbit eating grass |
| carnivore | animals only | a spider eating a fly |
| omnivore | plants and animals | a robin eating berries and worms |
When a consumer eats, energy moves from the food into the eater.
A grasshopper eats grass. The grass energy is now in the grasshopper.
A frog eats the grasshopper. Now the frog has that energy.
A heron catches the frog. The energy moves again.
Scientists draw this with arrows. The arrow points from the food to the eater.
So the arrow goes from grass to grasshopper, not the other way.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Every animal is a consumer. | ? |
| A food chain arrow points from the eater to its food. | ? |
| An omnivore eats both plants and animals. | ? |
| A carnivore makes its own food. | ? |
Sharp sorting, explorer! Tomorrow we meet the cleanup crew: the decomposers.