AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Producers, also known as autotrophs, make their own food. They make up the first level of every food chain. Autotrophs are usually plants or one-celled organisms.

Detailed explanation-2: -A food chain always starts with a producer. This is an organism that makes its own food. Most food chains start with a green plant, because plants can make their food by photosynthesis. A living thing that eats other plants and animals is called a consumer.

Detailed explanation-3: -All food chains start with energy from the sun. This energy is captured by plants. Thus the living part of a food chain always starts with plant life and ends with an animal. Plants are called producers because they are able to use light energy from the sun to produce food (sugar) from carbon dioxide and water.

Detailed explanation-4: -As you probably know, the organisms at the base of the food chain are photosynthetic; plants on land and phytoplankton (algae) in the oceans. These organisms are called the producers, and they get their energy directly from sunlight and inorganic nutrients.

Detailed explanation-5: -The very bottom of the food chain is the soil. The soil contains important nutrients that plants need to grow. Moving up to the next level, there are plants that grow in the soil.