Producers
What is a producer?
An organism that makes its own food using sunlight through photosynthesis.
What is a primary consumer?
An organism that eats producers; usually herbivores like goats or snails.
What provides energy for all food chains?
The sun.
What is a trophic level?
A level or step in a food chain where organisms share the same function and food source.
Name a producer in a Jamaican forest food chain.
Callaloo or grass.
Name two producers found in Jamaica.
Callaloo and algae.
Is a goat a primary or secondary consumer? Why?
A goat is a primary consumer because it eats plants.
What percentage of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next?
About 10%.
How many trophic levels are usually in a food chain?
Usually 4 to 5.
Construct a basic food chain using: callaloo, goat, dog.
Callaloo → Goat → Dog.
Why are producers important to ecosystems?
They form the base of the food chain and provide energy for all other organisms.
Identify the secondary consumer in this chain: grass → snail → chicken → hawk.
Chicken (it eats the snail).
Why does energy decrease as you move up the chain?
Energy is lost as heat and through life processes like movement and digestion
Which level has the least energy: primary, secondary, or tertiary consumers?
Tertiary consumers.
Rearrange: algae, fish, heron, mosquito larva into a correct aquatic food chain.Algae → Mosquito larva → Fish → Heron.
Algae → Mosquito larva → Fish → Heron.
True or False – All producers are green plants. Explain.
False. Most producers are green plants, but some algae and photosynthetic bacteria are also producers.
What kind of consumer is a mongoose? Justify.
A mongoose is a tertiary consumer; it eats secondary consumers like chickens or frogs.
What happens to energy that is not transferred to the next level?
It is lost as heat or used for life processes like breathing and moving.
Which level includes herbivores?
Primary consumers.
Identify producer, primary, secondary, and tertiary consumer: algae → snail → frog → hawk.
Producer: Algae; Primary: Snail; Secondary: Frog; Tertiary: Hawk.
Explain the role of photosynthesis in food chains.
Photosynthesis allows producers to convert sunlight into energy, which is then passed through the food chain when consumers eat them.
Explain the diet of an omnivore using an example.
An omnivore eats both plants and animals. Example: a chicken eats grains (plants) and insects (animals).
Draw and label a simple trophic pyramid with correct energy flow.
(Students should draw a pyramid with: Producers at the base → Primary consumers → Secondary consumers → Tertiary consumers; arrows should show energy flow decreasing at each level.)
Match the level to example: Grass (), Chicken (), Hawk (___).
Grass (Producer), Chicken (Secondary Consumer), Hawk (Tertiary Consumer).
Create your own Jamaican food chain and identify each organism’s role.
Grass (Producer) → Snail (Primary) → Chicken (Secondary) → Mongoose (Tertiary).