Second Grade · Science · week 24

Food chains connect it all

Build and correctly order a simple food chain for a habitat studied this unit, using arrows to show what gets eaten by what.

Every habitat you have studied this unit, pond, forest, desert, ocean, has living things connected by what eats what. A food chain shows this connection in order, usually starting with a plant, since plants make their own food using sunlight.

An arrow in a food chain means "is eaten by." In grass, then arrow, then rabbit, then arrow, then fox, the grass is eaten by the rabbit, and the rabbit is eaten by the fox. Energy from the sun moves right along the chain, one bite at a time.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Draw a simple food chain together with arrows, using a habitat from this unit, like the pond or forest.
  • Quiz each other by pointing to a link and asking "what eats this?"
  • Point out that almost every food chain starts with a plant or something that uses sunlight.
  • Ask what might happen if one link in the chain disappeared, to show how connected the habitat really is.
Talk about it:
  • What do almost all food chains start with, and why?
  • What might happen to an animal if its food source in the chain disappeared?
  • Can you build a food chain from a habitat we have not specifically discussed?

Mastery looks like: They correctly build and order a simple three- or four-link food chain for a given habitat, using arrows to show what eats what.

Common stumbles: Ordering the chain backwards, so the arrow does not correctly show what is eaten by what; forgetting that a food chain almost always starts with a plant or the sun's energy.

Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Science for this learner.
← Back to todayAll coursesYear planner