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Primary Science · Year 4Chapter 4 · Habitats, change and food chains
Year 4 Science · Habitats, change and food chains · Lesson 4.4

Year 4 Science: Producers, predators and prey

Part of the Year 4 Science habitats, change and food chains chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

4.4

Producers, predators and prey

Year 4
A3: identify producers, predators and prey in a food chain
Story. In the pond, Ruby sees a grasshopper jump into the grass. Later a frog catches the grasshopper, and a grass snake hunts the frog. “So the frog is eaten, and it eats too,” says Ruby. Mr Patel says, “Yes. Some animals are both a predator and prey.”

A predator is an animal that hunts and eats other animals. A prey animal is an animal that is hunted and eaten by a predator.

An animal can be a predator in one link of a chain, and prey in the next. In the chain below, the frog is prey for the grass snake, and it is a predator of the grasshopper.

GrassProducerGrasshopperPreyFrogPreyGrass snakePredatorarrows point from the food to the eater
A food chain: grass, then grasshopper, then frog, then grass snake. The first is the producer, the middle ones are prey, and the last is the predator.

Key ideas

  • A producer is a plant at the start of a food chain.
  • A predator hunts and eats other animals.
  • Prey is an animal that is hunted and eaten.
  • An animal can be both a predator and prey in a longer chain.
Worked example 4.4.1
In the food chain grass → grasshopper → frog → grass snake, which living thing is the predator of the frog? Write the name.

Method. Find the animal that eats the frog.

  1. Read the chain. The arrow points from the frog to the grass snake, so the grass snake eats the frog.
    grass snake
  2. Name the predator. So the grass snake is the predator of the frog.
    Grass snake
  3. Write the answer.
    Grass snake

Check. A grass snake hunts and eats frogs. ✓

Worked example 4.4.2
In the food chain grass → mouse → owl, which living thing is the prey? Write the name.

Method. Find the animal that is eaten by a predator.

  1. Read the chain. The owl eats the mouse, so the mouse is eaten by a predator.
    mouse is eaten
  2. Name the prey. So the mouse is the prey.
    Mouse
  3. Write the answer.
    Mouse

Check. The owl is the predator in this chain. ✓

Worked example 4.4.3
In the food chain grass → grasshopper → frog → grass snake, is the frog a predator, prey or both? Write the word: predator, prey or both.

Method. Think about what the frog does in the chain.

  1. Read the first link. The frog eats the grasshopper, so the frog is the predator in that link.
    predator
  2. Read the second link. The grass snake eats the frog, so the frog is also prey in that link.
    prey
  3. Write the answer.
    both

Check. The frog is both a predator and prey in this chain. ✓

Watch out

Watch out: the producer is always a plant. A grasshopper is not a producer, because it eats plants and cannot make its own food.

Try it at home or school (with a grown-up). Look at a garden pond or a bird feeder with a grown-up, from a safe distance. Name one living thing that could be a predator, and one that could be prey. Do not touch any animal.

Exam tip

Grown-up tip. Ask: “Who eats whom? Is this one a predator or prey?” Let your child say which living thing is hunted, and which one hunts.

Exercise 4D  Producers, predators and prey

1
FIn the food chain grass → grasshopper → frog → grass snake, which living thing is the predator of the frog? Write the name.
2
FIn the food chain grass → grasshopper → frog → grass snake, which living thing is the prey of the grass snake? Write the name.
3
FIn the food chain grass → grasshopper → frog → grass snake, which living thing is the prey of the frog? Write the name.
4
FHow many arrows are in the food chain grass → grasshopper → frog → grass snake? Write the number.
5
FWrite the type of living thing that is always a producer in a food chain. Write the word.
6
FFill in the gap: a predator ___ other animals. Write the word.
7
FFill in the gap: a prey animal is one that is ___ by a predator. Write the word.
8
FIn the food chain grass → mouse → owl, which animal is the prey? Write the name.
9
FIn the food chain grass → mouse → owl, which animal is the predator? Write the name.
10
PSIs a frog a predator in the chain grass → grasshopper → frog? Write yes or no.
11
PSIs a grasshopper a producer in the chain grass → grasshopper → frog? Write yes or no.
12
PSWorking scientifically. Predict what would happen to the number of grasshoppers if all the frogs were removed from the pond. Write one prediction.
13
RExplain why the frog is both a predator and prey in the long food chain. Write one sentence.

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