Every food chain starts the same way: with a plant. Scientists have special names for the plants that make food and the animals that eat.
Key idea
Plants are producers: they make their own food. Animals are consumers: they eat to get their food.
Why it works
To "produce" means to make. Plants make food from sunlight, air and water. To "consume" means to eat or use up. Animals cannot make food, so every animal is a consumer, from a tiny caterpillar to a big wolf.
Worked example: Let's think it through
In the chain oak tree → caterpillar → robin → owl, which one is the producer?
- Which one makes its own food? The oak tree.
- The caterpillar, the robin and the owl all eat.
- The owl is at the end and is the strongest, but it still eats.
Answer: The oak tree.
Common mistake
Children sometimes call the big, strong animal at the end of a chain the producer. The producer is always the plant at the start, the one that makes food.
For the grown-up. People are consumers too. A fun check at lunch: name one thing on the plate that came from a producer.