Animals & Nature · Labelling and tick worksheet
Build a Food Chain Worksheet (Free KS2 Science Printable)
A food chain shows how energy passes from one living thing to the next as one organism is eaten by another. This free printable worksheet gives Year 4 children a clear, hands-on way to build and read a simple grass → rabbit → fox chain and to use the correct scientific vocabulary along the way.
Designed to print neatly onto a single A4 page, the sheet combines a colour-in illustration with labelling and tick tasks. It is ideal for classroom science lessons, homework or a relaxed bit of learning at home, and it deliberately keeps the focus on the three ideas children are most often tested on: the producer, the predator and the prey.
Build a Food Chain
Free Animals & Nature worksheet · Ages 8 to 9
Label the food chain
Look at the three living things in the picture, from left to right. Write whether each one is the producer, the prey or the predator. Use the word bank to help you.
The grass at the start of the chain is the...
The rabbit, which is eaten by the fox, is the...
The fox, which hunts and eats the rabbit, is the...
Write the food chain using arrows. Remember each arrow means 'is eaten by'.
True or false
Tick the boxes next to the sentences that are correct. Leave the wrong ones blank.
- A food chain always begins with a producer such as a plant.
- An arrow in a food chain means 'is eaten by'.
- The grass makes its own food using sunlight.
- The fox is eaten by the rabbit.
- The rabbit is the prey of the fox.
- The arrows point from the fox back towards the grass.
Build a Food Chainowee.worldAnswer key
- The grass at the start of the chain is the... — producer
- The rabbit, which is eaten by the fox, is the... — prey
- The fox, which hunts and eats the rabbit, is the... — predator
- Write the food chain using arrows. Remember each arrow means 'is eaten by'. — grass to rabbit to fox (grass is eaten by rabbit, rabbit is eaten by fox)
- A food chain always begins with a producer such as a plant. — tick
- An arrow in a food chain means 'is eaten by'. — tick
- The grass makes its own food using sunlight. — tick
- The rabbit is the prey of the fox. — tick
What is a food chain?
A food chain is a way of showing what eats what in a habitat. It always begins with a producer — a green plant such as grass that makes its own food using sunlight. The producer is eaten by a plant-eating animal, which in turn may be eaten by a meat-eating animal. Each arrow in a food chain points in the direction the energy travels and is read as 'is eaten by'. So 'grass → rabbit' means the grass is eaten by the rabbit, not the other way round. This small detail trips up a lot of children, so it is worth reading the arrows aloud together a few times.
Producers, predators and prey
By Year 4 children are expected to sort the parts of a food chain using three key words. A producer is the green plant at the start that captures energy from the Sun. A predator is an animal that hunts and eats other animals. Prey is the animal that gets eaten. The same animal can be both predator and prey depending on where it sits in the chain: in our example the rabbit is prey to the fox but is never a predator, while the fox is the top predator. Talking through these roles helps children see that the labels describe a relationship, not a fixed property of the animal.
Why arrows mean 'is eaten by'
The single most common misconception in this topic is reading the arrows backwards. The arrow follows the flow of energy and food, so it always points from the thing being eaten towards the thing doing the eating. Encourage your child to trace each arrow with a finger and say the full sentence: 'grass is eaten by the rabbit; the rabbit is eaten by the fox'. Reinforcing this verbal pattern makes interpreting unfamiliar food chains in tests far easier, because the child has a reliable rule rather than a guess.
How to use this worksheet
Start by colouring the picture, which gives younger or less confident children a gentle way in and lets them look closely at each organism. Then work through the labelling task, matching producer, predator and prey to the grass, rabbit and fox. Finish with the tick activity, which checks understanding of the arrow direction and the roles. For an extension, ask your child to name another food chain from a garden, pond or seashore, always starting with a plant. This links directly to the curriculum requirement to construct as well as interpret food chains.
Frequently asked questions
What is a food chain for KS2 children?
A food chain is a diagram that shows what eats what in a habitat. It starts with a producer (a green plant), then a plant-eating animal, then often a meat-eating animal. Each arrow is read as 'is eaten by' and shows how energy passes along the chain.
What is a producer, predator and prey?
A producer is the green plant at the start of a food chain that makes its own food from sunlight. A predator is an animal that hunts and eats other animals. Prey is the animal that gets eaten. An animal can be both predator and prey depending on its place in the chain.
Which way do the arrows point in a food chain?
Arrows always point in the direction that energy and food travel, which means they point from the thing being eaten towards the thing eating it. The arrow is read as 'is eaten by', so 'grass to rabbit' means the grass is eaten by the rabbit.
Is this food chain worksheet free to print?
Yes. This worksheet is completely free to download and print at home or in the classroom. It is designed to fit neatly onto one A4 page and includes a colour-in illustration alongside the labelling and tick tasks.
What age or year group is this worksheet for?
It is aimed at children aged 8 to 9, which is Year 4 in KS2. It matches the National Curriculum objective to construct and interpret simple food chains and to identify producers, predators and prey.
Curriculum links
- KS2 Year 4 Science, Animals including humans: construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and prey.
- KS2 Science, working scientifically: identifying differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes.
- KS2 Year 4 Science, Living things and their habitats: recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things.
Made by The Owee education team. Updated 02/06/2026. Free to print and share.
More learning, made playful
Owee turns topics like this into age-right quizzes for children aged 5 to 10, with a treehouse that grows as they learn. Three subjects are free, forever.
Get Owee free