Oh, hello! My name is Oliver, I’m a worm if you couldn’t tell. I was just sleeping but I woke up to get some fresh air. Don’t you just love outside, with the sun and plants oh- and even animals!

Speaking of the sun that reminds me of how the sun is a huge help to our ecosystem, it helps producer make their food and nutrients! Do you not know what a producer is? I thought everyone knew! Alright, alright, I have some time on my hands- er- well tail.

Producers are the first level of the food chain meaning, other things eat them for nutrients.   Producers are usually being a plant, but some are bacterium. Let’s talk about plants today and how they make their own food. They do something called photosynthesis, big word, leaves of the plant take in light from the sun. Yes, the sun! Neat huh? Leaves of the plant also take in the air that people- you- breathe out. Do you know what that is? Carbon Dioxide of course! Producers help consumers, like you, eat and get their nutrients almost like the sun!

Wait, you don’t know what consumers are either?  Alright, let me  tell you about Consumers! Consumers usually are animals, including you- a human, they can’t make their own food. They must either eat plants to get the nutrients or eat other animals that ate that plant. It can go as much as one animal eats another animal that ate another animal- all the way back to the plant! I find consumers fascinating!

Oh! You see that animal? It looks like a bear! Look it’s eating berries. That bear is consumer, he’s eating a plant for food and nutrients. But he’s a special kind of consumer, he’s an omnivore! Omnivores are a special kind of consumer that eats both plants and other animals. There are other categories that consumers are sorted in. There is Carnivore- animals that eat animals and Herbivore animals that eat plants. Carnivore most likely to eat animals that have eaten that plant, that gives them the nutrients. Or an animal that ate another animal, so on and so forth, all the way down to that animal that ate a plant!

It may seem complicated at first, but it really is simple! Producers and consumers shape our planet’s ecosystem. I mean without them- I dunno what would happen. Something not good though, but not to worry! You are even apart of this Producer, Consumer thing. Yes you! You are a consumer- an omnivore, an animal that eats plants and other animals! Isn’t this so neat?

Here let’s review, Producers are most likely plants. Like a tree is a producer, other animals can eat its bark and or leaves to get their nutrients. Even as small as grass, yes, the grass you see outside is a producer! They also give off the food and nutrients needed for animals.