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  • No matter where on earth you go, living things are connected to each other.

  • From the tiniest of organisms to the largest of creatures, all living things need energy

  • to survive.

  • So where does that energy come from?

  • Well, matter and energy passes from one organism to another, connecting living things like

  • links in a chain: a food chain!

  • Of course a food chain is not an actual chain.

  • It's a way to talk about the relationships between organisms and show how matter and

  • energy flow between living things.

  • Every living thing on earth is part of a food chain, including you, and most things are

  • part of more than one.

  • All of the energy in earth's food chains comes from the sun.

  • The sun's energy reaches the earth as light and heat, and plants capture some of it and

  • convert it into food through photosynthesis.

  • Because plants make, or produce, their own food from the sun's energy, they are called

  • producers.

  • Every food chain must begin with a producer - for example, grass.

  • That's because animals cannot create their own food.

  • They must eat, or consume, energy from other sources.

  • That's why animals are called 'consumers.'

  • The second link in a food chain is a consumer that eats plants - an herbivore.

  • When an animal eats plants, some of the energy the plant captured from the sun is transferred

  • into the animal's body, where it is used for things like moving, breathing, and growing.

  • An herbivore is called a primary consumer.

  • 'Primary' means 'first,' because an animal eating plants is the first consumer in the

  • food chain.

  • Let's add a rabbit to our food chain.

  • Next comes a secondary consumer, the second consumer in the food chain.

  • This consumer is a carnivore, and gets their energy by eating other animals.

  • Maybe our rabbit will get eaten by a fox.

  • When the fox eats the rabbit, part of the energy that the rabbit got from the grass

  • is transferred to the fox.

  • This is the end of this simple food chain.

  • The rabbit eats the grass, then the fox eats the rabbit.

  • The energy that came from the sun is captured by the grass, transferred to the rabbit, and

  • then transferred to the fox.

  • Some food chains are longer than this one, but there can't be too many links in a food chain.

  • Each animal in the food chain uses up a lot of energy from the previous level instead

  • of passing it on meaning that only about 10% of the energy consumed by an animal will be

  • passed on to the next level.

  • Let's take a look at a longer food chain that also begins with grass.

  • This time, let's make our primary consumer a grasshopper.

  • The grasshopper eats the grass, and then gets eaten by a secondary consumer - a bluebird.

  • Then the bluebird gets eaten by a tertiary, or third-level, consumer - a snake.

  • The snake is eaten in turn by an owl.

  • The owl is the apex predator in this food chain.

  • Apex predators are not hunted and eaten by any animals.

  • We say that they are at the top of the food chain!

  • You probably recognize a lot of apex predators like lions, sharks, eagles, and crocodiles.

  • Just because they don't get eaten doesn't mean that they don't contribute to the food

  • chain, however!

  • When an animal dies their body is broken down by decomposers.

  • Decomposers are usually bacteria and fungi that break down dead plants and animals into

  • nutrients in the soil that in turn help the plants at the beginning of the food chain

  • to grow.

  • It's the circle of life!

  • Natural ecosystems usually have more complicated food chains, however.

  • A network of interconnected food chains is called a food web.

  • The arrows are used to show which direction the energy flows and help keep track of the

  • connections between organisms.

  • Now that you understand a little bit more about food chains, see if you can find the

  • connections between living things around you!

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Subtitles and vocabulary

B1 US food chain chain energy consumer rabbit eats

Food Chains for Kids: Food Webs, the Circle of Life, and the Flow of Energy - FreeSchool

  • 104 19
    薛明璟 posted on 2018/01/18
Video vocabulary

Keywords

recognize

US /ˈrek.əɡ.naɪz/

UK /ˈrek.əɡ.naɪz/

  • other
  • To accept that something is true or important
  • To know someone or something because you have seen or heard them before
  • To officially accept or approve of a country, government, etc.
  • To realize or understand something
  • To acknowledge the existence, validity, or legality of something.
  • To show appreciation for someone's efforts or qualities.
  • To identify someone or something seen before.
  • To understand and accept the importance of something.
  • verb
  • To accept the truth or reality of something
  • To officially accept or approve of something
  • To consider something as important or special
  • To accept the legal authority of someone, thing
  • To know someone or something because you have seen or heard them before
  • To publicly show appreciation for someone's work
  • To know someone or something because you have seen or heard him or her or experienced it before
matter

US /ˈmætɚ/

UK /'mætə(r)/

  • verb
  • To be of great importance; to count
  • noun
  • Material all things are made of that fills space
  • Problem or reason for concern
consume

US /kənˈsum/

UK /kən'sju:m/

  • verb
  • To eat, drink, buy or use up something
  • To take all your energy; focus the attention
  • other
  • To destroy completely; to engulf.
  • To eat, drink, or ingest (food or drink).
  • To eat or drink something
  • To completely fill someone's mind
  • To completely engross or absorb someone's attention or energy.
  • To use up (resources or energy).
bacteria

US /bækˈtɪriə/

UK /bæk'tɪərɪə/

  • noun (plural)
  • Plural form of bacterium; a large group of single-celled microorganisms.
  • noun
  • The very small creatures that can cause disease
track

US /træk/

UK /træk/

  • verb
  • To use marks to follow a wild animal
  • To move a certain way/follow a particular course
  • To record and examine the progress of something
  • To follow the trail or movements of someone or something.
  • To monitor or record the progress or development of something.
  • noun
  • A prepared course for racing, especially for athletes.
  • A circular course for running
  • A circular path on a magnetic disk or tape on which data can be recorded.
  • Course or way someone takes, e.g. in education
  • A mark or impression left by a moving object.
  • A recording of a song or piece of music.
  • A recording of a song or piece of music.
  • A rough path or minor road.
  • The rails on which a train runs.
  • The rails on which a train runs.
  • A prepared course for racing.
  • Path in a field or a forest made by walkers
  • Often circular course laid out for car racing
  • One of multiple musical recordings on an album
  • Band surrounding the wheels of a tank
  • Metal lines that trains ride on
  • One of the rails making up a railway line.
  • other
  • To follow the trail or movements of someone or something.
previous

US /ˈpriviəs/

UK /ˈpri:viəs/

  • adjective
  • Coming or occurring before something else in time or order.
  • Existing or occurring immediately before in time or order.
  • Existing or happening before the present time.
  • Existing or happening before the present time
  • Existing or occurring before in time or order.
  • Having occurred or existed before.
  • Immediately preceding in time or order.
  • Immediately preceding in time or order.
  • Coming or occurring before something else; preceding.
  • noun
  • A button or link that allows navigation to a preceding item or page.
  • adverb
  • Before; previously.
contribute

US /kənˈtrɪbjut/

UK /kən'trɪbju:t/

  • verb
  • To help to cause something to happen
  • To be a factor in causing something to happen
  • To donate, give (money) or help to something
  • To write articles for a magazine or newspaper
predator

US /ˈprɛdətɚ, -ˌtɔr/

UK /'predətə(r)/

  • noun
  • An animal that hunts and kills other animals
  • A company or entity that uses aggressive tactics to dominate or eliminate competitors.
  • A person who ruthlessly exploits others for their own gain.
  • Person preying on the weak to gain advantage
bit

US /bɪt/

UK /bɪt/

  • noun
  • A former coin worth 12.5 cents.
  • The basic unit of information in computing.
  • The basic unit of information in computing, representing a binary digit (0 or 1).
  • A mouthful of food.
  • Device put in a horse's mouth to control it
  • A particular thing or experience.
  • A person's contribution to an effort.
  • Small piece of something
  • A short period of time.
  • A very small amount of money.
  • A small piece or amount of something.
  • A small acting role or part in a performance.
  • The part of a tool that cuts or bores.
  • other
  • To do one's part.
  • Not at all.
  • verb
  • Past tense of 'bite'.
  • (E.g. of fish) to take bait and be caught
  • adverb
  • Slightly; somewhat.
tiny

US /ˈtaɪni/

UK /'taɪnɪ/

  • adjective
  • Very, very small

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