Food Chains and Ecosystems

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Food Chain

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A simple pathway of energy transfer showing who eats whom. Energy flows in one direction.

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Food Web

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A network of interconnected food chains in an ecosystem. Shows the complex relationships between organisms and how energy flows through the ecosystem.

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Producers

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Organisms that make their own food (e.g., plants).

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Consumers

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Organisms that eat other organisms.

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Herbivores

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Consumers that eat plants (e.g., deer, rabbits).

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Carnivores

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Consumers that eat other animals (e.g., lions, foxes).

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Omnivores

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Consumers that eat both plants and animals (e.g., bears, pigs, humans).

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Decomposers

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Organisms that break down dead material and recycle nutrients (e.g., fungi, bacteria).

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Arrows in Food Chains

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Show the direction of energy flow.

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Changes in Population

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Changes in one population in a food web can affect other populations.