Science KS1: The food chain

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All living things need energy. They get this energy from food. A food chain shows how energy is passed between plants and animals.

All food chains include a producer. This is something that has the ability to make its own food, usually a plant. Plants make their own food using sunlight, water and air. This is called photosynthesis. In turn, the plant is eaten by a living creature. In the food chain, it's called a consumer, like this caterpillar. This caterpillar is a herbivore. It's a consumer that only eats plants, but some consumers also eat other living creatures. A bird, for example, is an omnivore, because it eats both plants and insects or animals. Animals that only eat other creatures are called carnivores and these animals are found at the top of the food chain. They are predators or hunters like foxes.

A food chain might start with a plant, eaten by caterpillars, which are eaten by birds, which are eaten by foxes. The energy that started in the plants is passed through each part of the food chain.

If one part of a food chain is taken away, it will affect all the other creatures in the chain. If one creature from the food chain disappears, let's say the bird, then the foxes will find it hard to find food, and the caterpillars will take over the habitat because they're not being eaten any more.

Humans are part of a food chain too. Our food has sometimes been through many stages before it gets to us, but it always starts with a producer. Luckily we are at the top of the food chain as there aren't many animals that want to eat us.

This short film for KS1 pupils describes food chains, explaining what consumers and producers are, and what can happen if a food chain is disrupted.

It explores common food chains and explores how the ‘circle of life’ operates in nature.

It looks at what happens if one part of a food chain is taken away, and also explains the position of humans in the food chain.

Teacher Notes

This short film is an ideal tool to help pupils to explore what a food chain is and how essential they are to life on the planet.

From this film, pupils can explore and develop their own food chains to show local plants and animals become consumers and producers.

They can also look at what happens to a food chain should an element of this be removed.

Points for discussion:
· What is a food chain?
· Where do humans fit into food chains?
· What is a producer?
· What is a consumer?
· What happens if you remove part of a food chain?

Suggested activities:
After watching this short film, you could work with pupils to investigate the role of food chains in our lives and how these can change rapidly.

They can develop their own food chain diagrams to explore local producers and consumers and also how quantities of each may change as you move up through the food chain.

Pupils can explore photographs or diagrams of eco-systems and then develop their own food chains to show what happens in each.

They can consider how these eco-systems would change should one element be removed, and what this would do to the animals above the removed element.

Curriculum Notes

This short film is relevant for teaching science at KS1 in England and Wales, Foundation and KS1 in Northern Ireland and Early and 1st Level in Scotland.