الأسبوع 9 · الفصل 7 «السلسلة الغذائية»: 7-1 السلسلة الغذائية، 7-2 الكائنات الحية والهواء والماء · 3 دروس
1
A food chain: who eats whom
Science P6: Term 1, Chapter 7, pp. 62–67
GoalBuild a food chain and name the producer, herbivore and carnivore in it.
New words
food chain · a line showing who eats whomproducer · a living thing, such as a plant, that makes its own foodherbivore · an animal that eats only plantscarnivore · an animal that eats other animals
Explanation
Every living thing needs food. A food chain shows who eats whom. It always starts with a plant, because plants use sunlight to make their own food. They are called producers. An animal that eats plants is a herbivore, like a rabbit or a grasshopper. An animal that eats other animals is a carnivore, like a snake or an eagle. An animal that eats both plants and animals is an omnivore. People are omnivores. When something dies, decomposers such as fungi and some tiny living things break it down, and the nutrients go back into the soil. In a food chain, the first living thing is eaten by the second, the second by the third, and so on. A chain usually has about three to five links.
Worked examples
In a field, a grasshopper eats grass and a frog eats the grasshopper. The grass is the producer, the grasshopper is a herbivore, and the frog is a carnivore.
Omar eats rice, chicken and salad. He eats plants and animals, so he is an omnivore.
When a leaf falls from a tree, decomposers break it down. The nutrients go into the soil and help new plants grow.
Class activity
Card chains. Make food cards with pictures or names: grass, rabbit, fox, wheat, mouse, owl, snake. Build two chains of three or four cards. Mark the producer, the herbivore and the carnivore. Try one more with a card for yourself: where do you fit?
Practice
1
Where does a food chain always start?
With a plant (a producer).
2
Is a rabbit a herbivore or a carnivore?
A herbivore.
3
What do decomposers do?
They break down dead plants and animals so the nutrients go back to the soil.
