Shark Food Chain Printables for Elementary Students

Add these shark food chain printables to your ocean or shark-themed unit studies. They’re perfect for Shark Week, too!

This set of science worksheets is perfect for elementary students who are studying food chains, sharks, or the ocean.

I’ve never met a kid who wasn’t fascinated by sharks. Of course, they don’t want to run into one in person on their next trip to the beach.

They do, however, love seeing them at the aquarium or in books and shows.

Shark Food Chain Printables

These free printables are designed to help you teach your kids about food chains – specifically, the shark food chain.

These worksheets offer a great opportunity to introduce vocabulary words related to food chains, sharks, and more.

What is a food chain?

A food chain is the order in which living things depend on each other for food. Most food chains start with organisms that make their own food, such as plants.

The organisms that make their own food, often plants, are called producers. The organisms that eat those plants are called consumers.

The first thing that eats the plant is a primary consumer. The organism that eats the primary consumer is called a secondary consumer. Then, the organism that eats secondary consumers is called a tertiary consumer.

The final link in a food chain is called a decomposer. Decomposers are bacteria and other organisms that break down the animal that is the last in the food chain.

Preparing the Shark Activities

Print the pages. Laminate the anchor chart. You can also laminate the word search and shadow match activity pages if you’d like to make them reusable. Kids can use dry erase markers to complete these.

What’s included in the pack?

This pack contains six pages featuring the following activities:

anchor chart
food chain sequencing page
word search
shadow match
fill in the blanks
writing prompt

What you need to complete the activities

printer and printer paper
laminator or dry erase pockets
glue stick
scissors
pencil or dry erase marker

Using the Worksheets

After printing and preparing the shark worksheets, complete the worksheets according to the instructions below:

Anchor Chart

Use the anchor chart to introduce the shark food chain. Not only does this anchor chart illustrate the sequence of the food chain, but it offers an opportunity to teach students new vocabulary related to food chains.

Introduce words like phytoplankton, zooplankton, consumer, producer, primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary.

Shark Food Chain Sequencing

Once kids are familiar with the food chain sequence, have them cut out the sequencing discs and glue them in the proper order on this worksheet.

There are six steps to sequence.

Word Search

There are ten words to find in this word search grid. If you laminated this page, you can use a dry erase marker to find the words. Then, wipe it clean and use it again with another student.

Shadow Match

This worksheet is a great way for kids to strengthen their visual discrimination skills as they match sharks to their shadows. There are five sharks featured.

You could also take this time to teach kids the names of these sharks if you have a couple of nonfiction shark books on hand.

Shark Food Chain Identification

This worksheet is a great way for kids to review food chain vocabulary words and definitions. Kids will read the definition and choose a word from the word bank to fill in the blanks.

Writing Prompt

Kids will use the picture prompt to complete this page. Children are encouraged to write about how to preserve marine life.

BOOKS ABOUT Sharks

There are many shark books for kids that teach them about these creatures of the sea. Sharks are often portrayed as ruthless killers, but these books help children learn about the important role sharks play in the ocean’s ecosystem.

Shark books can also teach children about the different types of sharks and their habits.

Clark the Shark – Clark is a shark with zing, bang, and BOOM. Clark zooms into school, crashes through the classroom, and is rowdy at recess. Clark loves life and always means well—but when his enthusiasm is too much for his friends, Clark’s teacher, Mrs. Inkydink, helps him figure out a way to tone it down.

So Cool! Sharks – They have super senses! They leap clear out of the water! They swallow prey in a single gulp! Let’s face it: Sharks are … SO COOL! And, well, so is this book!

Shark Lady – Eugenie devoted her life to learning about sharks. After earning several college degrees and making countless discoveries, Eugenie wrote herself into the history of science, earning the nickname “Shark Lady.”