Food Chains

Every living plant and animal must have energy to survive. In an ecosystem, plants and animals all rely on each other to live.

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Scientists sometimes describe this dependence using a food chain or a food web.

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Everything Needs Energy

The grass gets energy from the sun and changes it into chemical energy through photosynthesis.

Producer

The zebra is a consumer. It eats the grass to obtain energy and matter to survive. It is considered primary because it is the first step above a producer.

Primary Consumer​

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The lion is a consumer. It eats the zebra to obtain matter and energy to survive. It is considered a secondary consumer because it is the second step above a producer.

Secondary Consumer

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Like we said earlier, all the energy made in the food chain comes from the producers, or plants, converting sunlight into energy with photosynthesis. The rest of the food chain just uses energy. So as you move through the food chain there is less and less energy available. For this reason, there are less and less organisms the further along the food chain you get

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Energy is lost