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Chew and Chomp: Energy from the Food Chain
By Erin Horner
I'm tired and hungry. It's time for some food and energy. It's a good thing that food is
energy! My food has stored energy. When I eat it, the energy stored inside my meal enters my
body. Let's eat! First I'll have some carrots. Carrots grow in the ground. The leafy tops of these
plants create their own food. They use sunlight and other ingredients to make all of the energy
they need. What the plant doesn't need it stores...in the carrots that I eat! When I chomp and
chew a crunchy carrot, all of that plant energy helps to fuel my body. The plant's energy first
helped the carrot to grow; now it will help me grow, too! Next, I'll have a hamburger. A
hamburger is made from cow meat. Cows need a lot of energy to survive. They graze on grass.
Like the carrot, grass makes its own energy. When the cow eats the grass, the grass's energy
enters the cow. When I eat my hamburger, the energy from the cow enters me. This is called the
food chain. The food chain shows how all living things are linked together. It illustrates how we
pass energy from one living thing to another. From the carrots and the cow, their energy passes to
me. Three bites, two bites, one bite...and it's all gone!
Chew and Chomp: Energy from the Food Chain
Questions
1. How do carrots get the energy they need to survive?
2. Some words in the story are used to signal a comparison between carrots and grass. Which of these words
or phrases signals the similarity?
A. are similar
B. on the other hand
C. both
D. like
3. Which of the following is an antonym for create?
A. invent
B. destroy
C. make
D. build
4. Which of the following is an opinion?
A. Carrots have green, leafy tops.
B. Carrot plants make their own food.
C. The best thing to eat for dinner is a hamburger.
D. Plants must have sunlight to make their energy.
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What do you think would happen if plants could not create their own energy and died? Would that affect the
food chain? If so, how? If not, why not?
What did you have for dinner last night? Where do you think your food's energy came from? Try to map a food
chain. Show the links between you and your food. Describe the original source of your food's energy.