Definition

A food chain is a sequence that shows how energy moves from one living thing to another.

It starts with plants and ends with decomposers.

Food Chain Example

Grass → Goat → Lion  Fungi

Explanation:

1. Grass makes food using sunlight.→ Producer

2. Goat eats grass to get energy.→ Primary consumer (herbivore)

3. Lion eats goat to get energy.→ Secondary consumer (carnivore)

4. Fungi breaks down dead lion and goat.→ Decomposer

🧩 Important Parts of a Food Chain

1️⃣ Producer

• Makes its own food

• Example: plants

• Uses photosynthesis

• Contains chlorophyll

📌 Harder keywords:Autotroph, photosynthesis, chlorophyll

2️⃣ Consumer

• Cannot make food

• Depends on others for food

Types of Consumers:

🟢 Primary Consumer

• Eats producers

• Example: goat, cow

🟠 Secondary Consumer

• Eats primary consumers

• Example: lion

🔴 Tertiary Consumer

• Eats secondary consumers

• Example: eagle (top predator)

📌 Harder keywords:Herbivore, Carnivore, Omnivore, Trophic level

3️⃣ Decomposer

• Breaks down dead plants and animals

• Returns nutrients to soil

• Helps recycle nutrients

📌 Harder keywords:Saprophyte, decomposition, nutrient recycling, organic matter

🌟 Food Chain in a Diagram

You can write it like this:

Sunlight → Plant → Herbivore → Carnivore → Decomposer

🧠 Harder Keywords Summary

• Producer (Autotroph)

• Consumer (Heterotroph)

• Decomposer (Saprophyte)

• Trophic level

• Energy transfer

• Food web

• Nutrient recycling

• Ecosystem

⭐ Fun Fact

A food chain is part of a bigger system called a food web.

A food web shows many food chains together in an ecosystem.