Plants, also called producers, convert that energy into food through a process called photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a process which uses water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight energy to make sugars. Plants do this in special cells called chloroplasts. These are usually green because of a pigment called chlorophyll. Most photosynthesis happens in a plant's leaves, which is why they are green. When an animal eats a plant, some of the energy gets passed from the plant to the animal. A food web shows this passage of energy, by showing what animals can eat what, and who gets eaten by who! These many different cycles are primarily carried out as one organism consumes, or eats another in a complex chain known as the food chain.
The most important part of any food chain are the plants that take the energy from the Sun, and substances from the atmosphere and soil to produce food.
As one organism eats another, it uses a portion of these substances
to sustain itself, and discards the rest in the form of waste. What’s inside?