Consumer
Contents
Key Stage 2
Meaning
A consumer is a creature the eats other creatures.
About Consumers
- A consumer cannot make its own food so it must eat other creatures.
- A consumer might eat a producer, or it might eat another consumer.
Examples
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| In this food chain the bush is the producer and the gazelle and cheetah are consumers. |
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| In this food chain the grass is the producer and the grasshopper, baboon and cheetah are all consumers. |
Key Stage 3
Meaning
A consumer is an organism that feeds on other organisms to gain energy.
About Consumers
- A consumer cannot make its own food so it must eat other organisms.
- A consumer might feed on producers, or it might feed on other consumers.
- Consumers can be labelled as primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary, depending on where their trophic level in a food chain.
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| In this food chain the giraffe is a primary consumer and the lion is a secondary consumer. |
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| In this food chain the grasshopper, pied flycatcher, skunk and vulture are all consumers. |
Key Stage 4
Meaning
About Consumers
- Consumers are in the second trophic level or higher.
- Consumers may also be referred to as heterotrophs.
- Consumers may be primary secondary, tertiary or quaternary consumers.
- Consumers are usually either animals, fungi or some bacteria.
- Consumers may feed on a producer or may feed on other consumers lower down in the food chain.