Building Food Chains

5th Grade ScienceEcosystems4 pages

About this worksheet

A 4-page food chain sheet for 5th grade science. Students first sort 16 organisms, from green pond algae to the bald eagle, into producers and primary, secondary and tertiary consumers, using feeding facts printed on page 1. Then they order three sets of word cards into pond, desert and ocean chains, draw arrows from food to eater, and mark each name P or C. Four short questions close the sheet, including what happens to energy at each step and where fungi fit. It ties to NGSS 5-LS2-1 and 5-PS3-1. The answers page gives the full sort, all three chains and sample answers.

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Building Food Chains: Ecosystems - page 1

Building Food Chains: Ecosystems - page 2

Building Food Chains: Ecosystems - page 3

Building Food Chains: Ecosystems - page 4

Curriculum objectives covered

5-LS2-1

“Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.”

Question 2 has students draw arrows through the pond, desert and ocean chains, and question 6 places fungi as decomposers.

5-PS3-1

“Use models to describe that energy in animals' food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.”

Question 5 asks what happens to the energy available to the next consumer at each step, and the key traces it back to the sun.

What's inside this worksheet

Trophic Levels in the Food Chain

Students sort 16 organisms, such as the kangaroo rat, harbor seal and garden spider, into a four-column table of producers and primary, secondary and tertiary consumers.

Arrow rule and word cards

A rule box says arrows point from the organism eaten to the one that eats it. Students rewrite three sets of four cards in chain order, starting with bullfrog, green pond algae, great blue heron and mayfly larva.

Think It Through

Students name the organism that was hardest to place, add a new one to each level, explain what happens to energy at each step, and decide whether fungi are producers, consumers or decomposers.

Answers

The completed sort, the three chains with P and C labels, and model answers for the energy and fungi questions.

How teachers use it

Hide the feeding facts

The feeding facts on page 1 list each chain in order. Fold that paragraph under before you copy page 2 if you want students to build the chains from what they already know.

Arrow direction check

Before question 2, ask which way the arrow goes between algae and mayfly larva. Plenty of students draw it from eater to food until they reread the rule box.

Talk about the ocean chain

The answers page admits that Antarctic krill and harbor seals live in different oceans. Use that to discuss why a real food chain needs organisms from one habitat.

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