This means that the sea star can be both a decomposer and a secondary consumer. Animals like the sea star can get energy from eating other organisms like clams and oysters, too. The decomposer helps the coral reef because it recycles the dead organisms into helpful nutrients for the environment. The sea star is a decomposer, which means it gets its energy from eating dead organisms. Uh-oh! Do you see the reef shark chasing the parrot fish? A reef shark is a secondary consumer and gets its energy from eating other animals like the parrot fish. The parrot fish is a consumer, which means that it gets its energy from eating producers like algae. Can you think of any other producers? Do you notice the fish trying to eat the algae? That is a parrot fish. Algae is a producer, meaning that it gets its energy from the Sun. Can you guess how each organism gets its food? The green plant-like organism is called algae.

Each organism in this picture gets its food from a different thing. All of these organisms depend on each other for food and energy.

Look at this picture of some animals and plants that live in a special part of the ocean called a coral reef. Think of some animals and plants that live in the ocean. The teacher will share the following passage and images with students: