Science Lesson Plan · Grades 3-6

Food Chain & Animal Eating Habits Lesson

Teach students how the food chain works and how animals are classified by what they eat. The lesson covers herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores, explains how energy is transferred from plants to animals, and traces food chains from ocean plankton to sharks. Includes a worksheet, animals food chart, and answer key.

Lesson Overview

How the Food Chain Works

All living things need food, water, and shelter to survive. The food chain describes how energy passes from one living thing to the next. Plants use sunlight to produce energy. Herbivores eat plants, carnivores eat other animals, and omnivores eat both plants and animals. In the ocean, a simple food chain runs from plankton to small fish to tuna to sharks to humans.

This lesson set includes a four-page lesson and a two-page chart worksheet. The lesson covers the food chain, animal eating habits, and food chain examples on land and in the ocean. The chart worksheet asks students to record each animal’s habitat, food source, and group (herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore). An answer key is included.

How to Use This Lesson

1. Distribute the lesson pages and read together. Ask students to give an example of a herbivore, a carnivore, and an omnivore from their own experience.

2. Walk through the food chain diagrams for ocean and land ecosystems. Have students trace the path of energy from the sun through each link in the chain.

3. Assign the lesson worksheet (page 3) and the animals food chart independently. Review answers using the key.

Printable Resources

2 classroom-ready PDFs.

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