If you’re looking for a fun way to teach your child about the food chain, look no further! These free food chain worksheets for kids make science elementary and engaging.
Your little one will love learning new vocabulary, doing a word search, and more! Who knows – they may even be inspired to pursue a career in science!
So what are you waiting for? Download these free printable science worksheets today and get started on your science lesson!
What is a food chain?
The food chain is a basic concept in elementary science. It describes the feeding relationships between different organisms in an ecosystem.
At the most basic level, the food chain starts with plants, which use sunlight to convert energy from the sun into food. This food is then consumed by animals, which in turn may be eaten by other animals. The food chain ultimately ends with decomposers, which break down dead organisms and return their nutrients to the soil.
While the food chain is a simplification of the complex web of life in an ecosystem, it provides a useful way to understand how energy and nutrients are passed from one organism to another.
Food Chain Worksheets for Kids
Preparing the Worksheets
The worksheets in this printable pack require no advanced preparation. Just print and go!
You can make these pages reusable by printing them on cardstock (for durability) and laminating them. Then, children can complete the activities with a dry erase marker.
Food Chain Worksheets
This pack includes seven free worksheets that are perfect for your elementary science lessons.
Food Chain Anchor Chart – I recommend printing this page on cardstock and laminating it for durability. Then, you can hang the anchor chart in your learning space for kids to reference.
Food Chain Diagram – This page is perfect for demonstrating food chains. Kids will draw arrows showing the order of each food chain.
Who Eats Whom: Children will cut and paste plants and animals in the correct order to demonstrate a food chain in the water and on land.
True or False: This page shows a variety of food chains and children will identify which of the food chains are in the correct order.
Draw a Food Chain: Children will demonstrate their knowledge by drawing a food chain of their own.
Word Search: This wordsearch is a great way for kids to review vocabulary words. You can laminate this one and have kids use dry erase markers to make it a reusable activity.
Food Chain Vocabulary: Children will choose a word from the word bank to fill in the blanks on this vocabulary worksheet.
Picture Books About Food Chains
While many people think of food chains as a simple concept, elementary students often need a bit of help to understand the nuances of how different species interact with each other.
That’s where books can come in handy. Here are a few our favorites when it comes to teaching children about food chains:
- How Does the Food Chain Work? by Baby Professor
- Hey Diddle Diddle: A Food Chain Tale by Pam Kapchinske
- Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs by Patricia Lauber
Food Chain Activities for Kids
Many elementary science classes include a unit on food chains, teaching kids about the different levels of the food chain and how energy is transferred from one organism to another.
There are lots of different ways that teachers can introduce this concept to kids, but one fun way is through food chain activities.
Here are a few examples:
-Create a simple food chain with paper plates. Draw or glue different images of animals onto the plates, starting with plants at the bottom and moving up to apex predators at the top. Explain how each animal gets its energy from the one below it in the chain.
-Make a game out of it! Create a large board with different images of animals and plants on it. Kids can take turns rolling a dice and moving their players around the board, learning about what each animal eats as they go. The first player to reach the finish line wins!
-Get outside and explore! Take kids on a nature hike and see if they can identify different food chains in the wild. You could even bring along a booklet or print-out for them to fill in as you go along.
Food chain activities are a great way to get kids excited about learning about science. By getting hands-on with these food chain activities, kids will learn about the different parts of the food chain and how they all work together.