Simple Food Chains
CONCEPTUALDescribe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify different sources of food
Mastery Evidence
- Draw a simple food chain with at least three organisms using arrows to show energy flow
- Explain that food chains always start with a plant (producer) that makes its own food
- Use the terms 'producer' and 'consumer' correctly when describing a food chain
Assessment Prompt
“Can [child] draw a food chain showing how a caterpillar eats a leaf and then a bird eats the caterpillar?”
Curriculum Standards1 alignment
Y2.Sci.LTH.4The national curriculum in Englanddescribe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food
Prerequisites5
- Herbivores, Carnivores & OmnivoreshardAges 5—6
- Habitats & Basic NeedshardAges 6—8
- Ocean Food ChainssoftAges 5—7
- Minibeasts in the food chainsoftAges 5—7
- Rainforest AnimalssoftAges 5—7
Show full prerequisite tree
- Herbivores, Carnivores & Omnivores hard
Must know carnivore/herbivore/omnivore to understand food chains
- Habitats & Basic Needs hard
Must know about habitats and interdependence before learning food chains
- Where Are the Poles? soft
Polar regions enrich the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- Habitat Vocabulary hard
Describing how habitats provide for basic needs requires habitat, environment, conditions, shelter vocabulary
- What Is a Rainforest? soft
Rainforest habitat knowledge enriches the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- What Living Things Need hard
Must know basic needs of organisms before understanding how habitats provide for those needs
- Living Things Vocabulary soft
Describing what plants and animals need to survive uses life processes vocabulary: nutrition, growth, sensitivity
- Living, Dead & Never Alive hard
Must distinguish living from non-living before understanding habitats that support living things
- Living Things Vocabulary hard
Comparing living, dead, and never-been-alive things requires the life processes vocabulary to give reasons
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before exploring where each type lives
- Ocean Animal Variety soft
Food chains benefit from knowing the variety of animals that eat each other
- Minibeasts in the food chain soft
Garden minibeast food chains provide concrete examples for curriculum simple-food-chains
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must know common minibeasts before placing them in food chains
- Rainforest Animals soft
Rainforest animals provide rich examples for simple food chains (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
Unlocks2
- Food Chains & Energy TransferhardAges 8—9
- Changing EnvironmentssoftAges 8—9