Food chain worksheet (cut and paste)
Cut-and-paste forest food chain worksheet with an answer key · 1 page + answer key
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Three empty forest food chains, each starting with the Sun, with 12 organism cards to cut out along the dashed lines. Children glue a producer first, then the animals in order, so every arrow points from a food to the animal that eats it. Labels under each box name the levels: producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer and tertiary consumer. The answer key shows one correct order for each chain.
Before cutting, let your child build chains on screen in the food chain game, which checks every arrow and explains mistakes. Switch the ecosystem above to print ocean, desert, grassland or arctic versions, and press New problems to shuffle the cards.
Tips for using it
- Ask your child to point to the producer in each finished chain and explain where it gets its energy.
- Some cards can fit more than one chain. Any order works if each animal really eats the one before it.
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Questions
Which way do the arrows go in a food chain?
From the food to the eater. The arrow shows the direction energy flows, so grass → rabbit means the rabbit eats the grass.
Why do some cards appear twice?
The same animal can be part of more than one food chain. A rat snake, for example, eats both mice and rabbits.