A rabbit spends the morning eating clover in a field. Trace the energy in the rabbit's meal back to where it first came from.

Seeds are eaten by a mouse. The mouse is eaten by a snake, and the snake is eaten by a hawk. Where did the energy in the hawk's meal originally come from?

Grass, a grasshopper, a frog, and a mushroom all live in the same field. Which one captured the energy in this field first, before anything else ate?

A student draws a model of a food chain: Sun, then corn, then a chicken, then a person. Each arrow points to the right. What does each arrow stand for?

A maple leaf falls to the ground, and over the winter worms and molds break it down. What happens to the matter that was in the leaf?

Sunlight has to keep reaching an ecosystem every day. Why can't the same energy simply be used over and over by the living things there?

A healthy bean plant is moved into a dark closet. It gets the same water and the same soil as before, but after two weeks it is pale and has stopped growing. Where does the energy stored in this plant's food come from?

A dairy farmer claims that the energy in her cows' milk can be traced back to the Sun. Which observation best supports that claim?

Ana eats oatmeal and eggs. The oats grew in a field, and the hens that laid the eggs were fed corn. Where did the energy in her whole breakfast start?

A grasshopper chews leaves all day. Where did the energy in those leaves come from first?

A volcano sends up an ash cloud that dims the sunlight over farmland for several months. What is the most likely effect on the food chains there?

A black bear tears open a hive and eats the honey inside. The bees had made that honey from nectar they gathered from wildflowers. Where did the energy in the bear's meal first come from?

A vulture finds a rabbit that has already died and eats it. Even though the rabbit was dead, where did the energy in the vulture's meal first come from?

A veterinarian explains that a puppy's food gives it energy for body repair, growth, motion, and staying warm. Where did that energy in the puppy's food originally come from?

In the ocean, tiny drifting plantlike living things are eaten by small fish, and those fish are eaten by a tuna. Where did the energy in the tuna's body first come from?

A family burns oak logs in a fire ring and feels the warmth. Where did the energy released by the burning wood come from first?

A squirrel buries an acorn in October and does not dig it up and eat it until the following March. By March, has the source of the energy stored in that acorn changed?

A wolf eats a deer, and the deer had been eating leafy plants. Where did the energy in the wolf's meal first come from?

A polar bear lives in a cold, icy place, so the energy in its food has nothing to do with the Sun.

The energy stored in a carrot can be traced back to sunlight.