Many of the living organisms on planet Earth eat organic food. It can be plants, bodies of other creatures, products of their vital functions and decomposition. By and large, what is a power circuit? This is a situation where nutrients move in succession from one organism to another.
Producers
To understand what a power circuit is, you need to find out what it is made of. There are creatures who begin this sequence. They are called producers. These creatures (autotrophic) take energy for the implementation of their life from materials that are not organic. These include green plants and many types of various bacteria that live in water, air, on the ground and underground. So, plants can receive nutrition through photosynthesis in sunlight. And microorganisms use mineral salts and gases to function.
Consumers
In determining what the food chain is, the next link is made up of consumers, who, in turn, are already heterotrophic organisms. Among them, first-order ones are those that feed on producers: microorganisms and plants. Second order predators: those who feed on other animals. This is followed by third, fourth order consumers, and so on, until the sequence closes.
Herbivorous
To better understand what a food chain is, we turn to the classification of animals according to the composition of the food they consume. Animals that eat exclusively plant foods are called herbivores or herbivores. Such creatures exist in almost any of the orders, classes, types of the animal kingdom. Invertebrates have ringworms, beetles, butterflies and grasshoppers, bees and wasps. Vertebrates have many fish, reptiles (turtles), and non-predatory birds. In mammals, herbivores - roe deer and deer, horses and zebras, cows, elephants, many rodents.
Carnivores, or predators
The food chain is links that complement each other. Without one, the next one would simply have nothing to eat, which leads to the extinction of a certain species of animals. As has already happened many times in nature, upon the extermination of the food base of predators, they gradually disappear themselves. So, carnivores close the food chain. One or several species of predators feeding on herbivorous animals may participate in the chain . As a rule, the final link is the largest and strongest animal. In the ocean, for example, a shark. In the midland forest, it will be a wolf or a lynx. Usually there are not many such predators. Their nutritional base (and therefore the energy supply for life) is limited, although meat food gives animals more energy, and predators spend less time on food consumption than herbivores. Among the most famous marine predators, for example, the blue shark.
Among land - tigers, lions, wolves. They all hunt and eat the meat of other animals.
Omnivores
The food chain is the transition of energy from one being to another. Moreover, with each subsequent link, energy losses are usually carried out. So, for example, when a lion eats an antelope, it contains only part of the energy that the animal received during its life. But there are animals that are equally inclined to eat both plant and animal food. They are called omnivores. There are also quite a lot of them in nature. Insects and birds, rats and pigs, bears and chimpanzees. And of course, man. Omnivorous mammals have no sharp fangs, and incisors are located in the front of the jaw and molars are located in the back. And the stomach is adapted for processing both animal and plant foods.
Scavengers
A special role in nature is played by scavenger animals that feed on the corpses and remains of other animals. There are also quite a lot of them: from microorganisms and insects to vertebrates - birds and mammals. They destroy dead matter, using the released energy, processing it and using it for their vital functions. If not for these creatures, the whole planet would be covered with the remains of the dead for the entire time of its existence organisms. And bacteria are actively involved in the food chain, as if completing the processing of energy into a new quality, preparing the ground for plants.
What is a power circuit? Definition
Thus, having analyzed all of the above, we can approach the meaning of the term. What is a power circuit? Definition is given by dictionaries and encyclopedias. Firstly, these are the organisms of all kingdoms (bacteria, protozoa, plants, fungi, animals), which are interconnected by the relationship “food - consumer”. The creatures of the next link in the chain eat the representatives of the previous link, using matter and energy to carry out their own life activities. Thus, the transfer and conservation of energy and matter takes place, their circulation in nature is carried out. Secondly, during the transition from one chain link to another, most of the energy resources are lost (up to 90% in some cases), which are usually dissipated in the form of heat loss. This is probably why the number of CPU links (food chain) is not higher than 3-5 (to the maximum).
Recommendations for the presentation on the topic "Food chain: what is it?"
When presenting this topic, it is recommended to use slides depicting the organisms involved in food chains, to focus on what kind of food the animals eat, as whom they participate in the process. You can also suggest a home essay: "Write down what food chains are and what kinds of animals you know can participate in them in a terrestrial or aquatic environment."