4.6 Energy and substances in food chains.

understand the transfer of substances and of energy along a food chain.
-bush grass being eaten by the impala.
-bush grass- producer
-impala- primary consumer
-leopard- secondary consumer
-lion- tertiary consumer (if the lion eats the leopard)

-producer- converting light energy to chemical energy - chemical energy takes the form of organic molecules (carbohydrates, protein, lipids) molecules are food.

-molecules are composed of:
C-H  (carbon to hydrogen bonds)
C-O  (carbon to oxygen bonds)
C-C  (carbon to carbon bonds)
O-H  (oxgen to hydrogen bonds)
C-N  (carbon to nitrogen bonds)
-these bonds all represent energy.

-C, H, O, N (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen) are the substances/matter.
-as bush grass carries out photosynthesis it creates the organic molecules which are the substances and contain the energy which was from sunlight- in form of chemical energy.
-impala consumes this for growth, respiration and life processes.
-the leopard consumes the impala and passes on the same molecules reorganize into leopard form and if the lion eats the leopard it would be reorganized into lion form.
- what passes from each stage in the food chain are the substances or matter (C, H, O, N) and the energy which is in the bonds between the elements. (eg. bond [-] between C-H)