Year 4 Science: Food chains
Part of the Year 4 Science habitats, change and food chains chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Food chains
A food chain shows what eats what. It starts with a plant, and each arrow points from the food to the eater.
A food chain starts with a producer. A producer is a plant, because plants make their own food, using light, water and air. Animals cannot make their own food, so they eat plants or other animals.
The table shows four food chains. Each has a producer, a prey and a predator.
| Food chain | Producer | Prey | Predator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grass → Rabbit → Fox | Grass | Rabbit | Fox |
| Leaf → Caterpillar → Blue tit | Leaf | Caterpillar | Blue tit |
| Grass → Grasshopper → Frog | Grass | Grasshopper | Frog |
| Grass → Mouse → Owl | Grass | Mouse | Owl |
Key ideas
- A food chain starts with a producer, which is a plant.
- Arrows in a food chain point from the food to the eater.
- A food chain with three living things has two arrows.
- Animals eat plants or other animals, but they cannot make their own food.
Method. Look at the first living thing in the chain.
- Look at the start of the chain. The chain starts with grass, which is a plant.grass
- Name the producer. A plant at the start of a chain is the producer.Grass
- Write the answer. Grass
Check. Grass makes its own food, using light. ✓
Method. Count the arrows between the living things.
- Look at the chain. There are three living things in the chain.three
- Count the arrows. Three living things need two arrows between them.2
- Write the answer. 2
Check. Each arrow joins one living thing to the next. ✓
Method. Think about what an arrow shows.
- Read the rule. An arrow shows the direction in which food passes.food passes
- Apply the rule. The grasshopper eats the grass, so the arrow points from the grass to the grasshopper.from the grass
- Write the answer. from the food to the eater
Check. The arrow points to the eater. ✓
Watch out
Watch out: the arrow points to the eater, not to the food. A fox eats a rabbit, so the arrow goes from the rabbit to the fox.
Try it at home or school (with a grown-up). Look at a plant and any small creature on it in a garden, with a grown-up. Draw a food chain with arrows that show who eats what. Do not touch unknown creatures.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Ask: “What does the animal eat? Which way does the arrow go?” Let your child draw the arrows from the food to the eater.
Exercise 4C Food chains
Method. Look at the first living thing.
- Read the chain. The chain starts with grass, which is a plant.grass
- Write the answer. Grass
Check. Plants are producers. ✓
Method. Find the animal that hunts and eats the others.
- Read the chain. The fox eats the rabbit, so the fox is the predator.fox eats rabbit
- Write the answer. Fox
Check. A predator hunts other animals. ✓
Method. Find the animal that is eaten.
- Read the chain. The rabbit is eaten by the fox, so the rabbit is the prey.rabbit is eaten
- Write the answer. Rabbit
Check. Prey is the animal that is hunted. ✓
Method. Count the arrows between the living things.
- Count the gaps. There are three living things, so there are two gaps between them.two gaps
- Write the answer. 2
Check. Three living things have two arrows. ✓
Method. Read the key idea in section 4.3.
- Read the key idea. Each arrow points from the food to the eater.eater
- Write the answer. eater
Check. The arrow goes towards the animal that eats. ✓
Method. Read the key idea in section 4.3.
- Read the key idea. A food chain starts with a producer, which is a plant.producer
- Write the answer. producer
Check. A producer makes its own food. ✓
Method. Find the living thing before the frog.
- Read the chain. The arrow points from the grasshopper to the frog, so the frog eats the grasshopper.grasshopper
- Write the answer. Grasshopper
Check. The frog is the eater at the end of this chain. ✓
Method. Count the living things in the chain.
- Read the chain. The chain has grass, mouse and owl.three names
- Count them. There are three living things.3
- Write the answer. 3
Check. Each living thing in the chain is counted once. ✓
Method. Put the living things in order, from the food to the eater.
- Start with the food. The leaf is the food for the caterpillar.leaf first
- Add the eaters. The caterpillar is eaten by the blue tit, so the blue tit comes last.blue tit last
- Write the answer. Leaf → Caterpillar → Blue tit
Check. The arrows point from the food to the eater. ✓
Method. Check which chain starts with a plant and points to the eater.
- Look at a). Chain a) starts with a fox, which is not a plant.not a plant
- Look at b). Chain b) starts with grass, and the fox is the eater at the end.grass first
- Write the answer. b
Check. The food chain starts with a producer. ✓
Method. Think about what the rabbit eats.
- Think about the chain. The rabbit eats grass, so it depends on grass for food.depends
- Write the prediction. Without grass, the rabbits would have less food, so their numbers would fall.numbers would fall
- Write the answer. Accept any prediction with a reason, such as: the rabbits would have no food, so their numbers would fall.
Check. A food chain shows that each living thing depends on the one below it. ✓
Method. Think about where the food comes from.
- Think about plants. Plants make their own food using light, water and air.make their own food
- Write the reason. So all the animals in the chain depend on plants for food.depend on plants
- Write the answer. Accept any sentence that says plants make their own food using light, so the other living things depend on plants.
Check. Animals cannot make their own food. ✓