Science · Life Science

Food Webs — Reading Comprehension Lesson

Reading comprehension passage and printable worksheet about food webs — how energy moves through ecosystems from producers to consumers to decomposers — for grades 3–6.

Reading Passage

Food Webs

All living things need energy to survive. In nature, energy flows from one organism to another through a system called a food web. A food web shows the feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem — who eats whom. Understanding food webs helps scientists see how changes to one species can affect many others in an ecosystem.

At the base of every food web are producers. Producers are organisms that make their own food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Plants, algae, and certain bacteria are producers. Because producers capture energy from the sun and store it in their tissues, they form the foundation of nearly all food webs on Earth.

Consumers are organisms that get their energy by eating other organisms. Herbivores are consumers that eat only producers — for example, deer eat grass, and caterpillars eat leaves. Carnivores are consumers that eat other animals — wolves eat deer, and eagles eat fish. Omnivores eat both plants and animals. Humans are omnivores because we eat vegetables, fruits, grains, meat, and fish.

Decomposers break down the remains of dead plants and animals. Bacteria and fungi are the most important decomposers in most ecosystems. They recycle the nutrients locked inside dead organisms and return them to the soil, where producers can use them again. Without decomposers, nutrients would stay locked in dead matter and producers could not grow.

Food webs are complex and interconnected. A single organism may be eaten by many different predators, and a single predator may eat many different prey. When one species in a food web declines — due to disease, hunting, or habitat loss — it can affect many other species. These connections make ecosystems fragile and highlight the importance of protecting biodiversity.

Printable Worksheet

More Science Worksheets

Explore our full library of science reading comprehension worksheets and lesson resources.