Food Chain Worksheet

Put the links of a food chain in order, from the producer to the top consumer, with an answer key.

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NameDateMade at homeroomtools.comWrite what is missing on the lines. The word box helps.Word box1.2.3.4.5.Food chain: start with the producergrassfrogsnakegrasshopperhawk
NameDateMade at homeroomtools.comWrite what is missing on the lines. The word box helps.1.2.3.4.5.Food chain: start with the producerAnswer keygrassgrasshopperfrogsnakehawk
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All 44 links

Meadow 5

  • grass The producer. Grass makes its own food from sunlight.
  • grasshopper A primary consumer. Grasshoppers are plant-eaters.
  • frog A secondary consumer. A frog catches insects with its sticky tongue.
  • snake A tertiary consumer. A garter snake eats mainly frogs and other amphibians, and earthworms.
  • hawk The top consumer. Hawks feed on snakes, lizards, mice and other small animals.

Pond 5

  • algae The producer. Algae make their food from sunlight in the water.
  • mosquito larva A primary consumer. Mosquito larvae live in water and feed on algae.
  • dragonfly nymph A secondary consumer. The young of a dragonfly lives under water and catches mosquito larvae.
  • bluegill A tertiary consumer. This freshwater fish eats the water-living young of insects, dragonflies among them.
  • raccoon The top consumer here. Raccoons go for prey that is easy to catch, such as fish and crayfish.

Desert 5

  • mesquite The producer, a spiny shrub or small tree of dry lands.
  • kangaroo rat A primary consumer. Kangaroo rats are seed eaters and carry mesquite seeds in their cheek pouches.
  • rattlesnake A secondary consumer. Rattlesnakes hunt small animals such as rodents and birds.
  • roadrunner A tertiary consumer. This bird eats lizards, mice and young rattlesnakes.
  • coyote The top consumer here. Coyotes are among the main predators of roadrunners.
Show all 44 links (29 more)

Arctic sea 5

  • ice algae The producer. These algae grow on the underside of sea ice.
  • copepod A primary consumer. Copepods are small crustaceans, and they graze on ice algae.
  • Arctic cod A secondary consumer. It feeds on plankton animals such as copepods.
  • ringed seal A tertiary consumer. Its diet is mostly Arctic cod and small crustaceans.
  • polar bear The top consumer. It preys on seals, the ringed seal above all.

Field 3

  • clover The producer, a small plant whose leaves come in threes.
  • rabbit A primary consumer. Cottontail rabbits prefer tender plants such as grasses and clovers.
  • fox A secondary consumer. The red fox hunts rabbits, though it feeds mostly on small rodents.

Forest 3

  • acorn The nut of an oak tree, the producer of this chain.
  • mouse A primary consumer here. Mice, like squirrels, eat acorns.
  • owl A secondary consumer. Owls are birds of prey that live on insects and small rodents.

Savanna 3

  • acacia tree The producer. Giraffes browse it at heights other plant-eaters cannot reach.
  • giraffe A primary consumer. It browses on woody plants, acacias above all, taking leaves, flowers and fruit.
  • lion The top consumer. Lions hunt large hoofed animals, giraffes among them.

Rainforest 3

  • tree leaves Part of the producer, a rainforest tree.
  • sloth A primary consumer. Its slow life goes with a low-energy diet of leaves.
  • harpy eagle The top consumer. Sloths and monkeys are its main prey.

Tundra 3

  • moss The producer, a small flowerless plant that grows in green mats.
  • lemming A primary consumer. This small rodent feeds mostly on mosses and grasses.
  • snowy owl The top consumer. Its numbers rise and fall with the lemmings of the tundra.

Ocean 3

  • phytoplankton The producer. These tiny drifting organisms of the ocean make their food from sunlight.
  • krill A primary consumer. Krill are small crustaceans that feed on phytoplankton.
  • blue whale A secondary consumer. Its diet is almost all krill.

Kelp forest 3

  • kelp The producer, a large brown seaweed.
  • sea urchin A primary consumer. It feeds mostly on algae; left unchecked, urchins can graze a kelp forest bare.
  • sea otter A secondary consumer. It hunts on the sea floor, mostly for sea urchins and shellfish.

Seagrass bed 3

  • seagrass The producer, a plant with long, narrow leaves that grows under the sea.
  • green sea turtle A primary consumer. The adults feed mostly on seagrasses.
  • tiger shark The top consumer. Grown tiger sharks eat sea turtles regularly, green sea turtles among them.

How this list was compiled: Chains chosen for this site on 2026-10-15. What a food chain, a producer and a primary, secondary and tertiary consumer are: the English Wikipedia articles Food chain and Trophic level (https://en.wikipedia.org/; Wikipedia's text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license); the National Geographic Society's encyclopedic entry Food Chain (https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/food-chain/), which also gives grass, rabbit, fox; phytoplankton, krill, blue whale; a grassland chain that ends snake, hawk; and a pond chain from algae through a mosquito larva and a dragonfly larva to a fish and a raccoon; the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Aquatic food webs (https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life/aquatic-food-webs), for trophic levels and for kelp, sea urchins and sea otters; BBC Bitesize, What is a food chain? (https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z3c2xnb). Every link was checked that day at the Wikipedia article of the eater or of the eaten: Grasshopper, Frog, Common garter snake, Hawk, Clover, Eastern cottontail, Red fox, Acorn, Owl, Giraffe, Lion, Sloth, Harpy eagle, Moss, Lemming, Snowy owl, Krill, Blue whale, Kelp, Sea urchin, Sea otter, Seagrass, Green sea turtle, Tiger shark, Mosquito, Dragonfly, Bluegill, Raccoon, Mesquite, Kangaroo rat, Rattlesnake, Greater roadrunner, Ice algae, Copepod, Boreogadus saida (Arctic cod), Ringed seal and Polar bear. For the answers under the tool: the same pages, and the Wikipedia articles Apex predator and Detritivore. Licence: own work

How it works

This food chain worksheet prints the five links of a meadow chain in a word box: grass, grasshopper, frog, snake and hawk. Pupils write them in order, from the producer to the last consumer. A key is the last page.

Read the full guide

Eleven more chains

Set changes the chain. Pond, Desert and Arctic sea have five links, like Meadow. Field, Forest, Savanna, Rainforest, Tundra, Ocean, Kelp forest and Seagrass bed have three, such as clover, rabbit, fox or kelp, sea urchin, sea otter. The list under the tool gives every chain in order and says what each link eats.

  • After a three-link chain, Missing stays at 3. Set it back to 5 to blank every link of a longer chain.

Questions and answers

What is a food chain?

A food chain shows who eats whom, in one line. It starts with a producer, a plant or an alga that makes its own food from sunlight. Each link after it is a consumer that eats the link before.

What are producers, consumers and decomposers?

Producers make their own food: plants, algae, phytoplankton. Consumers eat other living things; a primary consumer eats producers, and a secondary consumer eats primary consumers. Decomposers, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead plants and animals and return their nutrients to the soil.

What is at the top of a food chain?

The last consumer, which nothing else in that chain eats. A hunter with few or no natural predators of its own is called an apex predator, or top predator. The lion, the polar bear and the tiger shark are three.

Is there a food chain worksheet for 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade or 4th grade?

The sheet carries no grade. Eight of its chains have three links, a producer and two consumers, and four have five links, so one page gives a short chain or a long one.

Can I save the food chain worksheet as a PDF?

Yes. Print worksheet opens the print window, and its Save as PDF choice saves the sheet and the key as two pages.

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