Food Chains & Food Webs Teaching Resources
Get ready to teach your students the difference between a food web and a food chain, examples of food chains, and more core components of the elementary school science curriculum with this teacher-created collection of resources!
From food webs and food chains worksheets to printables that will help your students follow producers, consumers, and decomposers through the ecosystem, this curated library of printables and Google Slides templates has been created by teachers for teachers.
Food Chain + Food Web Lesson Planning
Save time on lesson planning with curriculum-aligned instructional slide decks, vocabulary guides, and activities that can easily be differentiated to meet your students' individual needs.
Moved into a science classroom this year and just getting up to speed? The expert science teachers on the Teach Starter team have put together the answers to some of teachers' most common questions!
What Is the Difference Between Food Web and Food Chain?
By definition, a food chain is an outline of who eats what (or whom!). It follows how energy and nutrients move down one single path within an ecosystem and describes the relationships of the various organisms along the chain. Organisms are broken down into three basic levels along the food chain:
- Producers — The first level of every food chain, producers make their own food.
- Consumers — This level of the food chain can be broken down into herbivores (who eat producers), secondary consumers (who eat herbivores), tertiary consumers (who eat secondary consumers), and predators (who eat other consumers).
- Decomposers — These organisms break down organic waste, turning it into soil that is then used by producers.
A food web, on the other hand, is more complicated than a food chain, just as the name implies. The food web shows a connection between the various food chains in a single ecosystem.
How Do You Teach the Food Chain and Food Webs?
There's a lot to cover in your food chain lesson plans, but here are a few tips to make teaching about the food chain easier — and more fun too!
- Explore food chain vocabulary to start things off.
- Identify producers, consumers, and decomposers right in your school neighborhood.
- Set up a food web on your classroom floor using painter's tape and printed pictures, then allow students to walk the web to see how organisms interconnect.
- Allow students to explore magazines — cutting out images of the various levels of the food chain — then create their own circle of life on a paper plate.
- Download dozens of food chain and food web worksheets and activities from Teach Starter, ready to use in the classroom!
- Plus Plan
Desert Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create a desert food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Ocean Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create an ocean food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Arctic Food Chain - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Create an Arctic food chain to show how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Tundra Biome Food Web - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Challenge students to create a food web and explain how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Desert Biome Food Web - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Challenge students to create a food web and explain how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Freshwater Biome Food Web - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Challenge students to create a food web and explain how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Biome Food Web - Anchor Charts
Learn how energy flows through food webs in different biomes with this set of classroom anchor charts.
- Free Plan
Forest Biome Food Web – Worksheet
Challenge students to create a food web and explain how energy flows between organisms with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Herbivores, Carnivores, and Omnivores – Sorting Activity
Determine if animals are omnivores, carnivores, or herbivores based on their diet with this sorting activity.
- Plus Plan
Food Chains & Food Webs – Vocabulary Booklet
Reinforce science vocabulary by creating a booklet to reference when studying food chains and food webs.
- Plus Plan
Food Chains & Food Webs – Vocabulary Posters
Display this set of science vocabulary posters in your classroom when learning about food chains and food webs.
- Plus Plan
Food Webs vs. Food Chains – Instructional Slide Deck
Learn the difference between a food chain and a food web with this 18-slide instructional slide deck.
- Plus Plan
Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers – Interactive and Printable Activity
Sort producers, consumers, and decomposers, with this printable and interactive activity.
- Plus Plan
Food Chains – Teaching Presentation
Learn about the flow of energy in a food chain with this 12-slide teaching presentation.
- Plus Plan
Imbalance in Food Chains – Teaching Presentation
Explore how different factors can cause a break in a food chain and may affect an ecosystem with this 16-slide teaching presentation.
- Plus Plan
Food Chain Poster
A poster to display in the classroom that shows the food chain.
-
12 Teacher-Approved Earth Day Activities for Kids to Green Your Classroom (Plus Teacher Freebies)
Make Earth Day count with these fun Earth Day activities for kids in the classroom that incorporate math, science, and more, plus access free seeds, resources, and more for teachers!