Energy and living things
From the Sun to plants to animals to you.
Energy from the Sun
Almost all the energy living things use comes from the Sun. Green plants capture light energy and store it in the food they make. Plants are producers.
Rice, wheat and maize capture sunlight in their leaves and store the energy in their grains – the grains we eat.
Passing energy along
Animals cannot make their own food. They are consumers. A goat eats grass. It is a herbivore. A tiger eats deer. It is a carnivore. Energy passes from plant to animal to animal.
Herbivores such as goats and cows have special teeth and long guts for eating grass, which is hard to digest.
Food chains
A food chain shows what eats what. Sun → grass → deer → tiger. The arrows show the direction the energy moves.
In a pond: Sun → water plants → small fish → kingfisher. Each living thing uses some energy to live and grow, so less passes along each link.
Energy for us
We get energy from our food, such as rice, dal, fish and vegetables. Our bodies change this stored energy into movement and heat.
Children need lots of energy to grow and play. Energy in food is measured in kilocalories (kcal), shown on food labels.
What I learnt
- I know that energy passes along food chains from the Sun.
- I can describe producers, consumers, herbivores and carnivores.