Who Eats What? Inside a Food Chain

Lexile: 830 | Grade: 5

Passage

In nature, every living thing needs energy to survive. But where does that energy come from? The answer lies in something called a **food chain**.

A food chain shows how energy moves through an ecosystem. It starts with the **producers**—usually green plants. They use sunlight, water, and air to make their own food through a process called photosynthesis.

Next are the **consumers**—animals that eat plants or other animals. A rabbit eating grass is a consumer. A fox eating the rabbit is also a consumer. And sometimes, a larger animal like a hawk might eat the fox. That’s how energy keeps moving.

At the end of the food chain are **decomposers**—like mushrooms and worms. They break down dead plants and animals into tiny pieces. These tiny pieces go into the soil and help new plants grow.

Food chains can be short or long, but they are always connected. In fact, when many food chains are linked together, they form something bigger: a **food web**.

If one part of a food chain changes—like if a certain animal disappears—it can affect the whole system. That’s why keeping ecosystems balanced is so important. Every living thing plays a role in nature’s circle of life.