Predators, Prey and Food Chains
KS 1, 2, First, Second, Stage.
Ages 5 - 11
DURATION: 45 mins - 55 mins
OVERVIEW: Food chains are a very delicate balance - each species is dependent on the others around it. If the balance becomes upset, drastic things can happen!
This workshop looks at feeding connections (what-eats-what) in an ecological community. We examine herbivores, carnivores and omnivores and learn how to classify non-living and living things. Pupils discover where energy comes from and how the consumer resource system can cause the disruption of a food web.
Learning Outcomes
All children will understand key words, such as ‘predator’, ‘prey’, ‘carnivore’, etc.
Most children will be able to explain that energy is passed up a food chain.
Some children will understand the interdependence between animals in a food web and how humans can affect it.
You'll get to meet some of these animals:
Coming Autumn 2025:
Free pre-lesson resources and teaching packs!
“Lottie was so engaging, and the children really loved meeting the selection of animals she brought. We would love to have her again next year.”
Loughton School
What is a food chain?
A food chain shows how a series of living things depend on each other as a food source for energy!
All food chains start with a producer - a producer is an organism that makes its own food, i.e plants (they get their energy from the sun). A living thing that eats a producer or another living thing is called a consumer.
A food chain shows how organisms are related to each other by the food they eat. Predators eat multiple different types of prey - this results in multiple food chains joining together to create a food web.
Changes in an ecosystem can disrupt a food chain; adjustments to one population will have a knock on effect along the entire chain. This can be caused by climate change, natural disasters, human interference and disease.
Curriculum Outcomes England & Wales
Curriculum Outcomes Scotland
