Food chain Word Search

Did you know?

producer

Green plants and algae are called producers because they make their own food from light, feeding every animal above them.

consumer

Consumers cannot make their own food, so every meal is really borrowed sunlight passed along from the plants below.

predator

Predators usually have eyes facing forward, giving the depth perception needed to judge a pounce, while their prey watch sideways.

prey

Some prey survive by sheer numbers: frogs release huge clutches of eggs so a few tadpoles always slip past hungry mouths.

herbivore

A herbivore's gut runs long and slow because plant fibre is tough, so grazers spend most of the day just eating.

carnivore

A carnivore eats other animals, and because meat packs so much energy it can rest between meals instead of grazing all day.

omnivore

Omnivores eat both plants and animals, a flexible menu that lets bears, pigs and people thrive almost anywhere on Earth.

decomposer

Decomposers like fungi and bacteria eat the dead, unlocking nutrients for plants: they are the recyclers of every food chain.

energy

Only about a tenth of the energy at one level reaches the next, which is why food chains rarely pass five links.

sunlight

Almost every food chain starts with sunlight: green leaves catch it and store it as sugar, powering the whole living pyramid above.

plankton

The word plankton comes from a Greek term for drifter, and these tiny ocean wanderers feed nearly every creature in the sea.

nutrient

Nutrients never run out because decomposers return them to the soil, so the same atoms cycle through countless living bodies over time.

habitat

A habitat is an animal's home address, supplying food, water and shelter, and each food chain fits the habitat that surrounds it.

ecosystem

An ecosystem links living things with their air, water and soil, so removing one predator can ripple through every level at once.

In their words