Contents
Key Stage 1
Meaning
A diagram used to show which creatures eat which other creatures in a habitat.
About Food Chains
- Food chains always start with a plant.
- Food chains use arrows to show which animals are eaten by which other animals. The arrow points from the food to the animal that eats it.
- You do not need to draw your own creatures in a food chain, you can just write their names.
Examples
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| In this food chain the leaf is eaten by the caterpillar. The caterpillar is eaten by the chameleon. |
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| In this food chain The grass is eaten by the grasshopper and the grasshopper is eaten by the snake. |
- Apple → Fly → Frog → Hawk
- Seaweed → Turtle → Shark
- Bush → Mountain Goat → Snow Leopard
- Leaf → Termite → Vole → Fox → Eagle
Key Stage 2
Meaning
A food chain is a diagram used to show which creatures rely on each other for food in a habitat
About Food Chains
- A food chain always begins with a producer which is a creature that makes its own food, like plant.
- The producer in a food chain is always eaten by a consumer.
- The arrows in a food chain always point from the food to the animal that eats it.
Producers and Consumers
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| In this food chain the bush is the producer and the gazelle and cheetah are consumers. |
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| In this food chain the grass is the producer and the grasshopper, baboon and cheetah are all consumers. |
Predators and Prey
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| In this food chain the tree is a plant so it cannot be a predator or prey. The rhinoceros is prey because it gets hunted by the lion. The lion is a predator because it hunts the rhinoceros. |
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| In this food chain the grass is a plant so it cannot be a predator or prey. The grasshopper is prey for the baboon. The baboon is the predator of a grasshopper, but the baboon is also the prey of the cheetah. The cheetah is the predator of the baboon. |
Key Stage 3
Meaning
A food chain is a diagram used to show which creatures rely on each other for food in a habitat.
About Food Chains
- A food chain always begins with a producer which is a creature that makes its own food, like plant.
- A food chain usually ends with a top carnivore which is not eaten by other carnivores.
- The arrows in a food chain always point from the food to the animal that eats it.
- The producer in a food chain is always eaten by a consumer.
- With each consumer the total energy gets smaller. When the primary consumer eats the producer it does not get all the energy because the producer used some of that energy in respiration. When the secondary consumer eats the primary consumer it does not get all the energy because the primary consumer used that energy for movement, it lost some energy in respiration and parts of its body cannot be digested by the secondary consumer.
Producers and Consumers
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| In this food chain the tree is the producer, the giraffe is a primary consumer and the lion is a secondary consumer as well as a top carnivore. |
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| In this food chain the grass is a producer. The grasshopper, pied flycatcher, skunk and vulture are all consumers. The vulture is also a top carnivore. |