TIME TO CHOW DOWN Animals and plants are living things All living things need food and water to live Plants can make their own food but animals must get their food from their surroundings Pets and other animals that are taken care of by humans have food brought to them Wild animals though have to forage Cheetahs get their food by chasing down other animals on the grasslands where they live 4
Forage means to search for food using sight sound and smell VOCABULARY Animals eat either plants or other animals Some animals eat both The animals that eat plants are called herbivores They search for places that have lots of grass or trees such as fields or forests Meat eaters or carnivores hunt for their meals They catch and kill other animals to eat What when and how animals eat can be different from animal to animal Let’s find out how different kinds of animals hunt and feed Pets such as dogs might have to beg for food but they don’t need to hunt for it 5
EAT OR BE EATEN Living things depend on each other for food within a system known as a food chain Most living things eat more than one type of animal or plant so their food chains overlap Most food chains start with plants Scientists call plants producers Animals are known as consumers because they consume or eat other living things Animals that look for other animals to eat are called Caption caption caption caption Caption caption caption Cows consume plant matter such as grass 6
predators Animals that predators track kill and eat are known as prey Most predators like to eat animals that they have killed rather than animals that are already dead Scavengers are animals that eat carrion or the meat of dead animals they usually have not killed themselves Some types of scavengers eat only carrion Other animals may eat carrion whenever possible but also hunt for fresh food A vulture stands on a dead buffalo Vultures are scavengers Producers are a source of material that can be consumed by other organisms VOCABULARY 7
