Food webs and food chains are key science topics that pop up across the elementary and middle school grades every year. But what are they, and what is the difference between the two? A food chain is a direct line of whom eats whom. Food webs are more complex, involving many food chains connected together. We’ve rounded up our favorite food chain and food web activities and resources to help you introduce key vocabulary, while building background knowledge about different ecosystems. Students will gain an understanding of how both are necessary for the survival of all life on our planet. Now that’s a big concept everyone needs to know more about!
1. Start with an anchor chart
An anchor chart is an amazing tool for supporting instruction. Demonstrate the most important and basic aspects of food webs and food chains as you create an anchor chart for each term. Then hang both of them in an easy-to-see area for students to look back at them throughout the unit.
2. Watch videos from BBC Learning Hub
Learning about diverse food webs and food chains is fascinating for kids. Plus, having specific examples in mind helps bring general concepts and vocabulary to life for them. BBC Learning Hub offers free, curated clips from their award-winning nature series to highlight key species in food webs. Watch and discuss just one video, or set students up with an entire playlist.
3. Introduce food webs and food chains by reading aloud
Picture books provide a fun and easy way to introduce topics and springboard big discussions. Here are some of our favorite titles to help students learn more about food chains and food webs:
4. Put together a food chain puzzle
Students can build simple puzzles for a fun way to learn a variety of food chains. You can easily make your own sets with five “pieces” or simple flashcards in each for students to put together. Print a photograph (or draw an element) and label on each piece per puzzle. For example, an ocean related food chain puzzle can involve the following five pieces: ocean, sun, plankton, fish, and shark. Other ecosystems to explore include the rainforest, the arctic, deserts, and so on. Give older students a blank template to make their own puzzles to play (and try and stump) their classmates!
5. Use a paper plate to show the circle of life
A paper plate provides the perfect base to illustrate food chains! Cut a hole in the center of each plate to emphasize the circular concept of life. Next, have students find (or draw) a picture each of the five basic elements of a food chain: producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, and decomposer. Then assemble them into food chains around the plate.
6. Create food chain art
This food web activity is a science project and an art project combined! Students choose a food chain to illustrate, then represent each part of it inside the mouth of the creature eating it. Using construction paper, draw and cut out faces of three different animals and one plant in the chosen food chain. Cut a giant open mouth into the faces of each shape with teeth on the top and bottom. Each animal should be made smaller than the one consuming it. Using a large piece of blank construction paper as the base, glue each animal inside the mouth of the one larger than it to show who eats who. The mouth of the first in the chain should have the producer inside of it. Super cool!
7. Construct food chain pyramids
A pyramid can be a helpful way to look at how available energy decreases as you move further up the food chain. Print a pyramid template onto cardstock for each student. Draw a picture of the following on each level, from bottom to top: producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, and tertiary consumer on one side. Label each one on the corresponding line on another side. Cut it out and construct it into a 3D shape. The same thing can be done by drawing a large triangle on a piece of construction paper, drawing four lines across it, and filling in each space accordingly. Kids will have fun either way you choose!
8. Assemble food chain links
This very literal interpretation of a food chain is one that kids can easily make on their own. Give students three strips of construction paper. Have them draw one producer, primary consumer, and one secondary consumer on each of the strips. Then connect them into a paper chain link in the proper order. Older students can add more chains to the links for longer food chains.
9. Make food chain nesting dolls
Cut out five strips of paper of different sizes length and width wise. Have students draw the producer on the smallest strip, the tertiary consumer on the largest strip, and other animals in the chain on the strips that fit in between. Glue each end of the strips togethe, making them into circular shapes as if you were making them into rings. Place them inside each other to make super cute food chain nesting dolls. For example, if using an ocean theme, the five nesting dolls in order from smallest to largest could be as follows: algae, plankton, seahorse, octopus, and shark. Have everyone do the same five elements, or allow them to choose the ecosystem they want to illustrate. The possibilities are endless!
10. Stack food chain cups
Using five styrofoam cups, draw pictures and labels on each to represent one part of a food chain. Place each cup with the mouth side down to start. Using this upside-down format, draw the pictures on upper portion of the cup and write the label underneath. (The mouth of each cup should have the label since it is the bottom part of the project). Stack them to show how they all fit together. Challenge kids to see who can stack their cups correctly in the fastest time!
11. Show food web connections with rubber bands
It’s a DIY food web geo-board! Use a bulletin board, pushpins, and rubber bands to demonstrate how different species within a food web are interconnected. Use this in a classroom science station, or complete the activity together as a whole class virtually.
12. Display a food web with model animals
Gather up all those toy animals and put them to good use! Try using different colors of yarn to represent predators, prey, scavengers, and more. If you don’t have figurines, make a larger version with stuffed animals. At first glance, this looks like an activity for little kids, but we promise—older students love this too!
13. Turn the food web into a marble maze
We love how this activity turns a biology lesson into a STEM challenge. Kids will get a kick out of playing with their food web marble mazes, so the learning never stops.
14. Walk a life-sized food web
Lay out cards showing all the organisms in a food web and have kids help place arrows for the flow of energy. Then, kids can walk along the web by following the arrows to really understand how it all interacts.
15. Play a food web PE Game
This food web activity pairs the classic Rock, Paper, Scissors game with animal movements to help reinforce concepts about predators and prey.
16. Create an edible food web
There are few things kids love more than snacks. Make food webs come alive with snacks that stand in for various plant and animal life. You’re definitely going to want to have extra goodies on hand since kids will be sure to snack while learning!
17. Create a classroom-size web with yarn
Assign each student a plant or animal and then have one student start holding a ball of yarn or string. Have students connect their string to whomever they eat and so on and so forth to create a giant (literal) web.
18. Fill some pockets
These food chain pockets are so cute and so useful in teaching kids the various categories for food chains.
19. Build a food chain chain
These “food chain chains” are the perfect project for kids to create during a food chain and food web unit. First, have them choose a biome. Then create a chain that shows the transfer of energy from producers to consumers and decomposers.
20. Explore winter food chains
Winter is a unique time for predators and prey within a cold and frozen ecosystem. Create this mobile with students to launch discussions about how energy transfer adjusts in different seasons.
21. Play a food chain energy transfer simulation game
Print the cards from this lesson plan from the National Park Service, and get your students moving and competing as they participate in this food chain energy transfer simulation. Who will gain and who will lose?
22. Evaluate food web stability
Use this multi-day lesson plan from California Academy of Sciences to get older kids thinking about what happens when food webs get disturbed by natural causes or by humans.
23. Read nonfiction text about food webs
Hone students’ informational text reading skills and boost their understanding of concepts and vocabulary words with this free illustrated informational text printable from Generation Genius. It’s perfect for reviewing taught material.
24. Display a food web bulletin board
Bulletin boards are a great resource for reinforcing information in a classroom since they are on display all day. Co-create one with your students by having them create the plant and animal cards.