Energy from Animals' Food - 5th Grade Science

Photosynthesis is the way in which plants convert the sun's energy into their own energy. And since animals get their energy from food, when an animal eats a plant it gets its plant-based energy indirectly from the sun, because that's how the plant itself got energy. Then when a carnivore eats a plant-eating animal, the carnivore gets energy from the herbivore, who got its energy from the plant, which got it from the sun. So even meat-eaters indirectly get their energy from the sun.

The food chain is highly interdependent in any given habitat, so if the plant-eating impalas and deer that leopards eat were suddenly to lose their plant-based food sources, they would die out and the leopards wouldn't have much left to eat. All nutritional energy comes from the sun: plants use chlorophyll to photosynthesize the sun's energy into plant energy, and then animals either feed on plants for that energy or they feed on the animals that have eaten that plant energy. A loss in plants means that the solar energy that supplies even the most ferocious carnivores will be less plentiful.

The food chain begins with the sun: plants get their energy by photosynthesizing sunlight into energy, and then herbivores eat those plants to get their energy. Carnivores who then eat the herbivores are getting that sunlight passed along from sun to plant to herbivore to carnivore. So if the sun were to no longer shine in this habitat, plants would not convert sunlight to energy, so mice would die, meaning that the hawks would have nothing to eat, and the vultures wouldn't get to feast on the scraps.

Through the photosynthesis process, producers, such as grass, absorb the sun's light energy to produce food (stored sugar and starches). Consumers cannot make their own food, so they have to consume other organisms. The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants and the sun. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.

Through the photosynthesis process, producers, such as grass, absorb the sun's light energy to produce food (stored sugar and starches). Consumers cannot make their own food, so they have to consume other organisms. The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants and the sun. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.

All nutritional energy comes from the Sun: plants use chlorophyll to photosynthesize the Sun's energy into plant energy, and then animals either feed on plants for that energy or they feed on the animals that have eaten that plant energy. The food chain begins with the Sun and then the energy flows to producers.

All nutritional energy comes from the Sun: plants use chlorophyll to photosynthesize the Sun's energy into plant energy. Then animals either feed on plants for that energy, or they feed on the animals that have eaten that plant energy. An arrow would be facing outwards, displaying energy leaving the Sun and being consumed by a producer, but no arrow facing towards it because the Sun does not consume energy in the food chain.

Producers rely on the Sun to make the food needed to survive. Through photosynthesis, plants convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into oxygen, sugar, and carbohydrates. Without the Sun, plants would be missing an essential "ingredient" to create their nutrients and would not survive.

Plants' nutritional energy comes from the Sun. Plants use chlorophyll to photosynthesize the Sun's energy into plant energy. Through the photosynthesis process, producers, such as grass, absorb the Sun's light energy to produce food (stored sugar and starches). Photosynthesis is how plants convert the Sun's energy into their energy.

Through the photosynthesis process, producers, such as grass, absorb the sun's light energy to produce food (stored sugar and starches). Consumers cannot make their own food, so they have to consume other organisms. The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants and the sun. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.

The answer is "consumer 2" because energy is lost as heat as it moves up the food chain.

Through the photosynthesis process, producers, such as grass, absorb the sun's light energy to produce food (stored sugar and starches). Consumers cannot make their own food, so they have to consume other organisms. The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants and the sun. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.

The answer is "producer" because energy is lost as heat as it moves up the food chain.

Through the photosynthesis process, producers, such as grass, absorb the sun's light energy to produce food (stored sugar and starches). Consumers cannot make their own food, so they have to consume other organisms. The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants and the sun. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.

The answer is "the arrows point in the direction of energy flow."

Through the photosynthesis process, producers, such as grass, absorb the sun's light energy to produce food (stored sugar and starches). Consumers cannot make their own food, so they have to consume other organisms. The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants and the sun. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.

The answer is "autotroph" because producers are also called autotrophs.

Through the photosynthesis process, producers, such as grass, absorb the sun's light energy to produce food (stored sugar and starches). Consumers cannot make their own food, so they have to consume other organisms. The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants and the sun. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.

The diagram presented is a typical food chain showing how energy flows from one organism to another. This food chain starts with grass, and when it is eaten, it passes energy to the consumer; in this case, it is a caterpillar. When the caterpillar is eaten, its energy is given to the frog and so on until it reaches the final consumer, the osprey. The cycle starts over again when the osprey passes, and decomposers break down the matter. So the conclusion that can be made from this food chain is that the caterpillar transfers all of its energy to the frog.

The energy in the meadow starts with the Sun. The Sun then provides energy to the grass through the process of photosynthesis. The rabbit eats the grass, and the rabbit absorbs its energy. Finally, the snake eats the rabbit, and it absorbs the rabbit's energy. Energy travels from the Sun and moves through the ecosystem with each consumer along the chain.

Energy flows from the producers to consumers. An example of a food chain where this is happening:

grass → grasshopper → frog → rabbit → hawk

The grass is the producer because it produces its food and nutrients through photosynthesis. The grasshopper, frog, rabbit, and hawk are consumers because they get their energy by consuming other animals or plants. They cannot make their food as plants can.

The raccoons and moose get their energy from eating the blackberries and raspberries. Raccoons and moose are consumers meaning their energy comes from consuming or eating plants, animals, or a combination of the two. Plants like raspberry and blackberry bushes are producers because they make their food through photosynthesis.

In this graphic, the arrows can be followed through the food chain to determine where the energy is being transferred. The seal's energy is transferred to the polar bear when it is eaten. The sea ice is not a living organism, zooplankton receives its energy from the phytoplankton, and the Sun is a provider of energy and does not consume energy in the food chain.