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Year 4 - Science

Changes in food chains (non-statutory Climate Change & Sustainability)

More about food chains

Unit Summary

This unit involves constructing and interpreting food chains and identifying producers, predators, and prey. It focuses on asking questions, gathering and presenting data, recording findings with diagrams and charts, and using scientific evidence to answer questions and support findings.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to explain why a change to the population of one living thing can affect the population of other living things in the same food chain.

Key Notes

  • The name or picture of each living thing in a food chain represents the whole population of that plant or animal.
  • A change to one living thing can affect other living things in the same food chain.
  • An increase or decrease in the population of a plant or animal can have an effect on the food chain.
  • Changes in food chains may lead to animals and plants becoming endangered or even extinct.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • food chain: A food chain shows how living things depend on each other for food.
  • population: The population is the total number of something living in a particular area in a particular period of time.
  • habitat: The place where a plant or animal lives is called its habitat.
  • extinct: Animals or plants that have died out completely are extinct.
  • endangered: An endangered plant or animal is one that is at risk of becoming extinct.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Pupils often think that the words and pictures in a food chain represent an individual plant or animal rather than populations of living things within a habitat.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.

The name or picture of each living thing in a food chain represents the whole population of that plant or animal. A change to one living thing can affect other living things in the same food chain.

2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'food chain'

A food chain shows how living things depend on each other for food. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.

3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.

Mistake: Pupils often think that the words and pictures in a food chain represent an individual plant or animal rather than populations of living things within a habitat. Correction: It is made explicit within the examples in this lesson that each living thing named in a food chain represents a population of that type, or species, of plant or animal within a habitat.

More Lessons In This Unit

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