food chains

A food chain illustrates how energy moves through the environment by showing which organisms eat others. It starts with a producer, like a plant, that makes its own food using sunlight. Primary consumers, such as herbivores, eat the producers. Secondary consumers, which are carnivores or omnivores, eat the primary consumers. Tertiary consumers are predators that eat secondary consumers. Energy is transferred from one level to the next, but it decreases at each step. Food chains help us understand the relationships between different species and how energy flows in ecosystems, maintaining balance and supporting life.