How Does Energy Flow in Ecosystems – Work?

Energy flows in ecosystems like food moves from one kid to another at lunchtime, it’s passing along what you need to grow and stay strong.

Imagine your favorite snack is a big, juicy apple. When you eat the apple, you get energy from it. Now think of a deer eating leaves, that deer gets energy from the leaves, just like you get energy from an apple. That’s how energy starts flowing in ecosystems: one creature eats another, and that's when energy moves.

When a lion eats a zebra, it doesn’t just get to snack, it also gets all the energy the zebra had from eating grass earlier. It’s like if you took your lunch from someone else at the table, you now have their energy too!

But not all of that energy is used up. Some of it becomes waste, or it's used for growing and moving around. That means only some of the energy gets passed on to the next creature, just like when you eat a snack, you don’t use all of it to run around.

So, energy flows in ecosystems by being eaten, one creature eats another, and that’s how they get their power!