Organisms: Food And Their Types

Key Concepts

• Herbivore
• Carnivore
• Omnivore

Introduction

All animals have three basic needs: food, water, and shelter. Food to eat, water to drink, and shelter to stay. Animals need food to get the energy to perform different kinds of activities like walking, running, jumping, etc.  

Food Chain 

We know that living things need the energy to live and grow. They get energy from food.  

A food chain shows how energy passes from one organism to another as food. First, a plant uses the sun’s energy to make its own food. Next, an animal such as an insect eats the plant. The energy passes from the sun to the plant, to the insect, to the bird. 

Herbivore 

Herbivore is an animal that only eats plants. They are also known as primary consumers because they are the first consumers in a food chain. 

Herbivores have flat teeth to grind and chew plants. They are found everywhere on the earth. They live in water, forests, deserts, and grasslands. 

Herbivores can include animals from tiny insects to very large buffaloes and elephants. 

Carnivore 

Animals that eat other animals are called carnivores.  

Examples of carnivores include cats that eat mice and tigers that eat deer. Carnivores have sharp teeth to rip and tear flesh. 

In some cases, carnivores eat other carnivores. Hawks, for example, often eat snakes. Herons eat frogs, and lizards eat spiders. 

Omnivore 

Are humans carnivores because they eat meat? Are they herbivores because they eat vegetables? 

An omnivore is an animal that eats both plants and animals. Both omnivores and carnivores are called secondary consumers. Examples of omnivores include pigs, dogs, and chickens. 

Summary

• A food chain shows how energy passes from one organism to another as food.

• Herbivore is an animal that only eats plants. Herbivores have flat teeth to grind and chew plants.

• Animals that eat other animals are called carnivores. They have sharp teeth to rip and tear flesh.

• An omnivore is an animal that eats both plants and animals.