EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -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-2: -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-3: -At a very young age, we’re taught that the base of the food web is supported by plants and algae. Plants and algae are primary producers that can photosynthesize, the process by which carbohydrates are made from the sun’s energy (photons).

Detailed explanation-4: -We do not put the Sun at the bottom of a food chain even though the producing plants or algae transfer energy from the Sun during photosynthesis. This is because the Sun is not a living organism.