Energy Connections: Unraveling Food Chains in Nature

The video explains how living things obtain energy through food chains, starting with producers like plants that create their own food via photosynthesis. Animals, known as consumers, obtain energy by eating other organisms. Predators eat prey, and food chains illustrate the dependency of plants and animals for food. Food chains typically start with a plant and end with a large animal, passing energy along the way. Decomposers feed on dead organisms. Examples include a terrestrial chain with rabbits and lions, and an aquatic chain with algae and sharks.

What is the primary source of energy for plants?

• Sunlight

• Water

• Soil

• Air

Which term describes animals that obtain energy by consuming other living things?

• Producers

• Decomposers

• Consumers

• Photosynthesizers

In a food chain, what is the role of a predator?

• To photosynthesize

• To decompose organic matter

• To eat prey

• To produce food

What typically starts a food chain?

• A large animal

• A plant

• A decomposer

• A predator

What is the role of decomposers in a food chain?

• To produce energy

• To consume plants

• To break down dead organisms

• To hunt prey

In the example food chain, what is the primary consumer?

• Plant

• Lion

• Rabbit

• Fox

In the terrestrial food chain example, which animal is the tertiary consumer?

• Fox

• Rabbit

• Plant

• Lion

In the aquatic food chain example, what is the role of algae?

• Tertiary consumer

• Producer

• Secondary consumer

• Primary consumer

Which animal is the quaternary consumer in the aquatic food chain example?

• Sea lion

• Bigger fish

• Small fish

• Shark

In the aquatic food chain, which animal eats the bigger fish?

• Algae

• Shark

• Small fish

• Sea lion