Chemotrophic

Chemotrophic is a big word that describes how some tiny living things get the energy they need to survive. Imagine you are a little bug that needs food to live, just like you need dinner each night. Well, some bugs find dinner in a very special way. They use special chemicals in their environment to make food, similar to how we use the energy stored in food to fuel our bodies.

See, some little bugs can get energy from chemicals around them, like the sulfur found in volcanic vents under the ocean. They use this energy by breaking down the chemicals into useful parts and making their own food. Imagine a tiny factory that can turn rocks and gases into food that the bugs can use to live – that's what chemotrophs do!

So even though you might rely on food from the grocery store or your own garden, these tiny bugs can make their own food from the chemicals they find around them. Pretty cool, huh?