Animals Food Chains & Habitats

By Stephanie Emery

Animal Food Chains

​Words to Know:

consumer: gets energy from eating plants and animals

decomposer: gets energy from decomposing matter

producer: makes its own energy

​Animals eat plants and other animals to stay alive. A food chain is the order that things get eaten.

Food chains begin with producers. Plants are producers. Plants use the sun to make their own food. Many animals eat plants for food and energy.

Multiple Choice

A food relationship between plants and animals in the environment is called a __________ .

• prey

• food chain

• habitat

Multiple Choice

living things that makes their own food

(example: plants)

• decomposer

• producer

• consumer

​Consumers are the next link in the food chain. Consumers eat plants and animals for food and energy. There are three types of consumers: herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.

​Herbivores eat plants.

Carnivores eat meat.

Omnivores eat both plants and animals.

Multiple Choice

living things that eat plants and animals to get their energy

(examples: animals)

• decomposer

• producer

• consumer

Multiple Choice

an animal that eats both plants and animals

• herbivore

• carnivore

• omnivore

Multiple Choice

an animal that eats only plants

• herbivore

• carnivore

• omnivore

Multiple Choice

an animal that eats only other animals

• herbivore

• carnivore

• omnivore

​The last link in the food chain is the decomposer. They get their energy from eating dead matter. When a plant or animal dies, decomposers, like the worm or fungi, eat it and return the nutrients to the soil. This lets the chain continue with new producers growing in the rich soil.

Multiple Choice

living things that get their energy from decomposing matter

(example: mushroom)

• decomposer

• producer

• consumer

Living things depend on other living things in order to survive. Each is connected, just like the links of a chain.

​Which type of consumer is a human?

​Think About It

habitats

​Words to Know:

aquatic: wet land environments

population: a group of organisms that are the same kind and live in the same place

terrestrial: dry land environments

The place where an animal lives is called a habitat. All of the living and non-living things found in a habitat make up an ecosystem. There are two types of ecosystems: aquatic and terrestrial.

Multiple Choice

The place where an animal lives is called its __________ .

(examples: ocea, rainforest, mountains, desert, wetlands)

• habitat

• terrestrial

• population

Multiple Choice

An __________ is all of the living and nonliving things in an environment.

• aquatic

• population

• ecosystem

Aquatic environments are in water. Examples include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, swamps, marshes, and oceans. Different populations of animals are found in these different environments. The animals found in salt water oceans are different from the animals found in freshwater ponds.

Multiple Choice

wet land environments

(examples: ponds, marshes, swamps, rivers, lakes, oceans)

• terrestrial

• aquatic

Multiple Choice

A __________ is a group of organisms that are the same kind and live in the same place.

• instinct

• population

• food chain

Terrestrial environments are on land. Examples include the desert, forest, grasslands, tundra, mountains and rainforest.

Land animals need food, water and shelter to survive in their habitat. Shelter is important because it protects the animals from harsh weather and predators. It’s also used to keep their young, or babies, safe.

​This elk's habitat is the Grand Canyon.

Multiple Choice

dry land environments

(examples: deserts, forests, and grasslands)

• terrestrial

• aquatic

Plants and animals found in one habitat often cannot survive in another. This is because they have adapted to survive to their own special environment. What do you think you might learn about an animal by observing it in its habitat?

​Living on both land and in water, river otters are playful animals who like to slide head first on their bellies.

​Fun Fact