This learning module, adapted from Interactive NOVA, helps students understand the path of energy as it is transferred through the food chain from one type of organism to another. A young worker begins her story by explaining how the sun releases energy into the solar system with a small portion of it reaching Earth. Some of the energy is absorbed into plants to keep them warm, but not all of it is used in the process of photosynthesis. The procedure continues as animals absorb the energy from plants, and we learn how 10 percent of the energy consumed is stored inside the animal to provide warmth, to power muscles and to sustain the animal’s life. Food consumed by humans provides the energy we need to help us think and grow.
Courtesy of Knovation
