• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Simple food chains). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Which living thing fills the gap in this food chain? grass → ___ → fox (algae / rabbit / lettuce / leopard seal) → rabbitPrompt: It must eat the thing before it in the chain.
2. In a food chain, what does the arrow mean? ("is eaten by" (energy passes along) / "lives next to" / "is bigger than" / "eats") → "is eaten by" (energy passes along)Prompt: Think: grass → rabbit. Which way does the food go?
3. Which living thing fills the gap in this food chain? ___ → grasshopper → frog → snake (giraffe / tadpole / caterpillar / grass) → grassPrompt: A food chain starts with a plant.

• Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
• Share the objective: Producers, consumers, predators and prey. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: phytoplankton → krill → penguin → leopard seal What is the krill in this food chain?
• Step 1: It is number 2 in the chain.
• Step 2: So the answer is: primary consumer
• Answer: primary consumer
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. oak leaves → caterpillar → blue tit → sparrowhawk What is the oak leaves in this food chain? (producer / tertiary consumer / primary consumer / secondary consumer) → producerPrompt: Start at the plant and count the arrows.
2. grass → zebra → lion Which animal is the predator of the zebra? (grass / zebra / lion) → lionPrompt: A predator hunts and eats other animals; its prey is the animal it eats.

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Food chains: which statement is true? (A consumer gets its energy by eating other living things. / A food chain can start with a lion. / Herbivores are predators. / Producers eat consumers.) → A consumer gets its energy by eating other living things.Prompt: Producers make food; consumers eat.
2. phytoplankton → krill → penguin → leopard seal Which animal is the prey of the penguin? (krill / phytoplankton / leopard seal / penguin) → krillPrompt: A predator hunts and eats other animals; its prey is the animal it eats.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-3.