This 4th grade life science worksheet gives students 12 labeled pictures to sort into producers, consumers and decomposers. A short box at the top defines each word before they start. Page 2 asks three written questions about why every food chain starts with a producer, what dead leaves would do without decomposers, and whether a person is a producer or a consumer. An answer page follows with the full sort and a model answer for each question.
“Classify living things as producers, consumers or decomposers by how they get their energy.”
The sort on page 1 puts the frog, snake and hawk with the consumers and the mushroom, earthworm and bacteria with the decomposers.
“Explain why every food chain starts with a living thing that makes its own food.”
Question 1 on page 2 asks why every chain starts with a producer.
“Describe what decomposers do with dead plants and animals.”
Question 2 on page 2 asks what happens to dead leaves without decomposers.
A shaded box defines producer, consumer and decomposer in one line each. Below it sit 12 labeled pictures, from grass, algae and a sunflower to a deer, hawk, frog and snake, plus a mushroom, an earthworm and bacteria under a magnifying glass. Students write each name in a three-column table.
Three questions with four lines each. Students explain why a food chain begins with a producer, say what would happen to dead leaves without decomposers, and decide whether a person is a producer or a consumer.
The sorted table, with four producers, five consumers and three decomposers, and a sample answer for each of the three questions.
Start of a food chain unit
Hand it out before you draw any chains. The sort shows which of the three words students already know, and the mushroom and the bacteria are worth watching.
Cut and sort
Print page 1, cut out the 12 pictures and let small groups sort them onto a big three-column chart before anyone writes. Students then copy the names into their own table.
Question 3 talk
People eat plants and animals, so students place themselves with the consumers. Ask pairs to name their last meal and trace it back to a producer.
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