Whats for dinner?

Food Chains:
Every organism needs to obtain energy in order to live. The question is, how does
an organism obtain energy? One way, for example, is that plants obtain energy through the
process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process by which a plant brings in carbon
dioxide, water, and sunlight to create sugar and oxygen.
A food chain is a sequence of what animal eats what animal. It shows the pathway of
energy from one organism to the next. A food chains starts with a primary energy source, the
sun (in some cases it can be boiling-hot deep sea vents for bacteria and protists). The first link
is known as the producer. The producers is known as an organism that can make its own food;
also known as an autotroph. Examples of known producers include plants and protists.
The second link in the chain is known as the primary consumer. These organisms eat the
producers/autotrophs. Another word for a primary consumer is herbivore which means eats
plants.
The next link in the chain is animals that eat primary consumers/herbivores. These are
called secondary consumers. From this point it is just one animal eating another animal. The
next link in the chain would be known as tertiary consumers. The tertiary consumers are eaten
by the quaternary consumers.

Food Web:
Everything in a food web is the same as a food chain, it just looks different. A food
chain is one long line. A food web is not. You may find several arrows (which are there to
indicate the flow of energy) pointing away from one organism or several arrows pointing to one
organism. This is what makes the difference between food web and food chain.
One thing you may notice in a food web is that an animal may have multiple food levels.
For example, when a bear eats berries it is known as a primary consumer. When a bear eats the
plant eating squirrel it is known as a secondary consumer.
Trophic Levels:
1. Primary Producer: Organisms that make their own food from sunlight and/or chemical
energy from deep sea vents. They are found at the base of a food chain/web and are also
called autotrophs.
2. Primary Consumers: Organisms that eat primary producers. They are also called
herbivores.
3. Secondary Consumers: These organisms eat primary consumers. They can be carnivores
(meat-eaters) or omnivores (both meat and plant-eaters)
4. Tertiary Consumers: These organisms eat the secondary consumers. Have the same
qualities as the secondary consumers.
5. Quaternary Consumers: These organisms eat the tertiary consumers. Have the same
qualities as tertiary consumers.
The food chain/web typically ends after the top predator. Eventually the top predator has
to die. I will be eaten by detrivores (vultures, worms, and crabs) and then broken down by
decomposers (mostly bacteria and fungi). Some of the energy and nutrients will go back into
the soil to help make plants grow which starts the web/chain all over again.