Predators, Prey & Food Chains
KS 1, 2, First, Second, Stage.
Ages 5 - 11
DURATION: 45 mins - 55 mins
OVERVIEW: Food chains are a very delicate balance - each species is dependent on the others around it. If the balance becomes upset, drastic things can happen!
This workshop looks at feeding connections (what-eats-what) in an ecological community. We examine herbivores, carnivores and omnivores and learn how to classify non-living and living things. Pupils discover where energy comes from and how the consumer resource system can cause the disruption of a food web.
Learning Outcomes
All children will understand key words, such as ‘predator’, ‘prey’, ‘carnivore’, etc.
Most children will be able to explain that energy is passed up a food chain.
Some children will understand the interdependence between animals in a food web and how humans can affect it.
You'll get to meet some of these animals:
Free Printable Resources with every workshop
What is a food chain?
A food chain shows how a series of living things depend on each other as a food source for energy!
All food chains start with a producer - a producer is an organism that makes its own food, i.e plants (they get their energy from the sun). A living thing that eats a producer or another living thing is called a consumer.
A food chain shows how organisms are related to each other by the food they eat. Predators eat multiple different types of prey - this results in multiple food chains joining together to create a food web.
Changes in an ecosystem can disrupt a food chain; adjustments to one population will have a knock on effect along the entire chain. This can be caused by climate change, natural disasters, human interference and disease.
Curriculum Outcomes England & Wales
Curriculum Outcomes Scotland
Get in the know before getting up-close and hands-on
