Food chain
Who eats whom.
Grass, hare, leopard
In a grassland the grass is eaten by the hare, and the hare is eaten by the leopard.
What can we call this linked sequence?
What this lesson covers
The idea
A food chain is a simple linear sequence showing 'who eats whom' in an ecosystem, representing the feeding relationships among its biotic components.
Grass, hare, leopard
In a grassland the grass is eaten by the hare, and the hare is eaten by the leopard.
What can we call this linked sequence?
- A food chain
- A population
- A habitat
Build the chain
Put the organisms in order, starting with grass.
Who eats whom
The interactions between living things based on feeding can be shown as a linear chain. A food chain is a simple sequence showing who eats whom in an ecosystem. Another chain in a grassland is Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake → Eagle.
A food chain is a simple sequence showing who eats whom in an ecosystem. Example: Grass → Hare → Leopard. Another: Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake → Eagle.
Notes
A food chain shows who eats whom: Grass → Hare → Leopard.
Check yourself
A simple sequence showing who eats whom is a …
In Grass → Hare → Leopard, the hare is eaten by …
In Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake → Eagle, who eats the frog?
A food chain always starts with …
- food web. A food web is a network of many chains.
- population. A population is a group of the same kind.
- food chain — correct. Yes!
- the leopard — correct. Yes!
- the grass. The grass is eaten by the hare.
- nobody. The hare is eaten by the leopard.
- The grasshopper. The grasshopper is eaten by the frog.
- The snake — correct. Yes!
- The grass. Grass is eaten by the grasshopper.
- an eagle. The chain starts with a producer.
- a decomposer. The chain starts with a producer.
- a producer such as grass — correct. Yes!