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Hello all!
My name is Ashley Espinoza.
I teach 7th grade life science and I LOVE all things science. Please use any of the following resources to teach your class Food Chains!

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A food chain is simply an organized arrangement of organisms which show the flow of energy. Teaching food chains will help your students learn the connection between plants and animals. If one organism is stripped from an environment, it could affect an entire ecosystem.

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Section 1: Activity standard and Digital Citizenship.
Section 2: I have included a full lesson on food chains.
Section 3: Extra resources and activities to teach food chains.

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Teachers! Use this Quizlet in your lesson to ensure students have an understanding of the vocabulary.

Here is an example of how I have students complete their vocabulary on a sheet of paper. You can also have students use this Quizlet for other activities!

An idea for your English language learners: You want these students to become familiar with the English language, so having them complete the sailboat for homework each night would be helpful for them.

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Teachers! Canva is a helpful tool that you can add to your teacher toolbox. Students can use Canva to create a digital food chain unit poster! Canva also makes it easy to differentiate for your students. You can give students the choice to create their food chain unit poster on paper or on Canva.

Click here and enter your credentials to get started on canva!

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S7L4. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to examine the interdependence of
organisms with one another and their environments.
b. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and the flow of energy among biotic and
abiotic components of an ecosystem.
(Clarification statement: Emphasis is on tracing movement of matter and flow of energy, not
the biochemical mechanisms of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.)

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Teachers! It's important for you and your students to stay safe while doing anything on the internet. This article from Common Sense Education includes information for different grade levels on how to stay safe online.

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Interactive lessons and activities for all students!

Use digital citizenship lesson plans to address timely topics and prepare students to take ownership of their digital lives. Browse lessons by grade and topic below, or see an overview of the curriculum.

Grades K-2 Meet the Digital Citizens

Get recognized for your work.

If you are using our Digital Citizenship Curriculum, you can earn recognition as a Common Sense Educator or Common Sense School.

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Digital Citizenship Curriculum | Common Sense Education

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Use digital citizenship lesson plans to address timely topics and prepare students to take ownership of their digital lives. Browse lessons by grade and topic below, or see an overview of the curriculum. Grades K-2 Meet the Digital Citizens If you are using our Digital Citizenship Curriculum, you can earn recognition as a Common Sense Educator or Common Sense School.

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                                          Me looking for food like.........

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Teachers! Include this GIF in a warm up question.
Ask students to think about what hawks eat and what would happen if one of those organisms disappeared on earth!

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Teachers! This is an amazing article from National Geographic informing the importance of the flow of energy in an environment. I have used articles such as this one for popcorn reading and for research papers. If you scroll to the bottom of this article, you can find other helpful readings for students to use in relation to the standard.

An idea for your English language learners: Google chrome has an extension where students can translate websites in their native language! HERE I have included a short video of how you can add the extension to your students computer.

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The food chain describes who eats whom in the wild. Every living thing-from one-celled algae to giant blue whales-needs food to survive. Each food chain is a possible pathway that energy and nutrients can follow through the ecosystem.

For example, grass produces its own food from sunlight. A rabbit eats the grass. A fox eats the rabbit. When the fox dies, bacteria break down its body, returning it to the soil where it provides nutrients for plants like grass.

Of course, many different animals eat grass, and rabbits can eat other plants besides grass. Foxes, in turn, can eat many types of animals and plants. Each of these living things can be a part of multiple food chains. All of the interconnected and overlapping food chains in an ecosystem make up a food web.

Organisms in food chains are grouped into categories called trophic levels. Roughly speaking, these levels are divided into producers (first trophic level), consumers (second, third, and fourth trophic levels), and decomposers.

Producers, also known as autotrophs, make their own food. They make up the first level of every food chain. Autotrophs are usually plants or one-celled organisms. Nearly all autotrophs use a process called photosynthesis to create "food" (a nutrient called glucose) from sunlight, Trophic Levels carbon dioxide, and water.

Plants are the most familiar type of autotroph, but there are many other kinds. Algae, whose larger forms are known as seaweed, are autotrophic. Phytoplankton, tiny organisms that live in the ocean, are also autotrophs. Some types of bacteria are autotrophs. For example, bacteria living in active volcanoes use sulfur compounds to produce their own food. This process is called chemosynthesis.

The second trophic level consists of organisms that eat the producers. These are called primary consumers, or herbivores. Deer, turtles, and many types of birds are herbivores. Secondary consumers eat the herbivores. Tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumers. There may be more levels of consumers before a chain finally reaches its top predator. Top predators, also called apex predators, eat other consumers.

Higher-level consumers (i.e., secondary, tertiary, and above) can be carnivores (animals that eat other animals) or omnivores (animals that eat both plants and animals). Omnivores, like people, consume many types of foods. People eat plants, such as vegetables and fruits. We also eat animals and animal products, such as meat, milk, and eggs. We eat fungi, such as mushrooms. We also eat algae, in edible seaweeds like nori (used to wrap sushi rolls) and sea lettuce (used in salads).

Detritivores and decomposers are the final part of food chains. Detritivores are organisms that eat nonliving plant and animal remains. For example, scavengers such as vultures eat dead animals. Dung beetles eat animal feces.

Decomposers like fungi and bacteria complete the food chain. They turn organic wastes, such as decaying plants, into inorganic materials, such as nutrient-rich soil. Decomposers complete the cycle of life, returning nutrients to the soil or oceans for use by autotrophs. This starts a whole new food chain.

Food Chains

Different habitats and ecosystems provide many possible food chains that make up a food web.

In one marine food chain, single-celled organisms called phytoplankton provide food for tiny shrimp called krill. Krill provide the main food source for the blue whale, an animal on the third trophic level.

In a grassland ecosystem, a grasshopper might eat grass, a producer. The grasshopper might get eaten by a rat, which in turn is consumed by a snake. Finally, a hawk-an apex predator-swoops down and snatches up the snake.

In a pond, the autotroph might be algae. A mosquito larva eats the algae, and then perhaps a dragonfly larva eats the young mosquito. The dragonfly larva becomes food for a fish, which provides a tasty meal for a raccoon.

Fast Fact

Carnivorous . . . Plants?
Most plants on Earth take energy from the sun and nutrients from the soil. A few plants, however, get their nutrients from animals. These carnivorous plants include pitcher plants, Venus flytraps, and bladderworts. These plants attract and trap prey, usually insects, and then break them down with digestive enzymes.

Fast Fact

Links in the Chain
Organisms consume nutrients from a variety of different sources in the food chain.

Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Illustrators

Mary Crooks, National Geographic Society

Editors

Jeannie Evers, Emdash Editing, Emdash Editing

Producer

National Geographic Society

other

Last Updated

February 22, 2023

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The food chain describes who eats whom in the wild.

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Teachers! BrainPop has many educational videos to use on food chains. Simply search "FOOD CHAINS" in the search engine and many videos of food chains will pop up for you to use in your classroom. BrainPop also has BrainPop en Espanol!

Click on this BrainPop link and enter your credentials.

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Teachers! Blooket is an amazing online platform to help students gain knowledge on a specific unit. There are multiple game modes to choose from so it never becomes boring for your students.

The way it works: Add your questions and answers regarding food chains or any unit you choose. Students will then enter a game code and compete with one anther by answering questions. I usually give candy to the top three winners.

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Teachers! Use this infographic from Dreamstime to help students better understand the importance of abiotic and biotic factors within a food chain. The website will also allow you to download the infographic.

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Food Chain Vector Illustration Diagram Stock Vector - Illustration of consumers, chain: 173338237

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Food chain vector illustration diagram. Illustration about consumers, chain, education, educational, cycle, function, nutrition, predator, animal, level, plants, producers - 173338237

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The big question: What is a food chain?

Teachers! Use this three minute video during your mini lesson to teach your students fabulous food chains. The video explains what a food chain is, how a food chain works, and how energy is transferred from one organism to another. You can pause the video at any time as you teach to reinforce important vocabulary.

An idea for you Spanish speakers: Unfortunately, this video only has subtitles in English. In my classroom, I have these students write in their (native language if they wish) what they think the video means. Once we get to work session, I pull my Spanish speakers to small group and we talk about the video as a group!

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Fabulous Food Chains: Crash Course Kids #7.1

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It's simulation time!

Teachers! Add this online simulator to the work session of your lesson to give students practice with building a food chain online! This simulator has many different food chains that students can build such as a terrestrial food chain and marine food chain. The great thing about this simulator is that it's "game-like." So most students will enjoy this type of activity as it will be engaging for them.

An idea for your English language learners: This simulator can't be translated into any other language, but it isn't very necessary. Students will be able to use the images of the organisms to give them an idea of where they should go. The simulator will make two different noises for when an organism is placed in the correct area and in the incorrect area.

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Food Chain Game - Science - Sheppard Software Educational Games for kids

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Food Chain Game - Food chains come to life: when a chain is correctly put together, it turns into an animated working chain!

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This video explains the importance of why digital citizenship is important.

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Digital Citizenship Why is it Important?

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Teachers! Have students build a model of a food chain to show the flow of energy between organisms! This is an easy and fun hands-on activity for all of your diverse learners!

Click here to see an example and for the 'How To.'

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Teachers! This is a super fun activity that allows students to get up from their seats and interact with one another.

Click here for the instructions

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Ahhh yes! Another GIF.

Teachers! Include this GIF in a closing question. GIFs are funny and relatable to students in today's age. You could include a meme instead! I would ask, "What is your favorite food? What do you think if made of? Which animal?" This would spark interest in your students and authentic questioning!