Final answer:
True, a food chain is a sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy are passed, and it operates in a linear fashion with different organisms occupying specific trophic levels.
Step-by-step explanation:
A sequence of organisms, each of which serves as a source of nutrients or energy for the next, is called a food chain. This statement is true. In ecology, a food chain represents a linear progression of energy and nutrients transfer through various organisms at different trophic levels, starting from producers to apex predators. Each organism feeds on the organism below it in the chain and is in turn eaten by the organism above it.
This single-pathway model simplifies the complex network of food relationships found in nature and is different from a food web, which represents multiple interconnected food chains and is non-linear in nature.