Free printable science worksheets and charts

Food Chain Worksheet

Grassland, ocean, forest or a food web: make a food chain worksheet to label, order and sort, then print it or save the PDF.

This food chain worksheet generator makes printable food chain, food web and ecosystem worksheets for science classes. It runs in your web browser, is free, and needs no sign-up. You tick the activities and options on the left, and the printable pages update live on the right. Choose from four worksheets: Grassland food chain, Ocean food chain, Forest food chain and Grassland food web. You can download a PDF, print the worksheet pages directly, or copy a link that reopens the same sheet. Nothing you create is uploaded or sent to a server.

Each sheet can include an answer key.

How to make a food chain worksheet

  1. Open the Worksheet menu and pick a sheet: Grassland food chain (the default), Ocean food chain, Forest food chain or Grassland food web.
  2. Tick the activities you want. The default set is Label the diagram, Fill in the blanks and Vocabulary matching. Only activities that suit the topic are offered.
  3. If you tick Put the stages in order, choose either Cut and paste (an empty cycle or chain of boxes plus picture cards to cut out and glue) or Number the stages (mixed pictures with a box to write 1, 2, 3).
  4. Set the options: Word bank (on or off; off makes the sheet harder), Answer key pages, Color pictures, Name and date line, Worksheet title, Items per activity (4, 6, 8, 10 or 12) and Paper size (US Letter or A4).
  5. Check the preview on the right. It updates as you change each setting.
  6. For a different version for each class or student, click New version. It shuffles the word bank, matching letters and order. The version is kept in the link.
  7. Click Download PDF for a sharp, true-size file, Print to open the print dialog with only the worksheet pages, or Copy link to save the exact sheet for later.

Turn off Color pictures to print black line art that children can color, which also saves ink.

What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?

A food chain is one path that shows how energy moves from one living thing to the next, such as grass → grasshopper → frog → snake → hawk. A food web is many food chains connected together, so you can see every living thing that eats or is eaten by each other.

Most animals eat more than one kind of food. A mouse may eat seeds and insects, and a hawk may eat mice, frogs and snakes. A food web shows this better than a single chain, which is why it is the more realistic picture of an ecosystem.

What are producers, consumers and decomposers?

Producers are living things that make their own food from sunlight, such as plants, algae and phytoplankton. Almost every food chain starts with the Sun and a producer.

Consumers eat other living things. Primary consumers eat producers, secondary consumers eat primary consumers, and so on up to the top predator. Animals that eat only plants are herbivores, animals that eat other animals are carnivores, and animals that eat both are omnivores.

Decomposers, such as mushrooms, mold and bacteria, break down dead plants and animals. This returns nutrients to the soil, where producers can use them again.

Which way do the arrows point in a food chain?

Arrows point from the food to the eater. In grass → grasshopper, the arrow shows that the grasshopper eats the grass and that energy moves from grass to grasshopper. Students often draw the arrows backward, so check the direction before you start a worksheet.

What happens if one living thing disappears from a food chain?

Every link depends on the one before it. If all the grasshoppers in the grassland chain disappeared, the frogs would have less food, so there would be fewer frogs, and then less food for the snakes. In the ocean chain, losing the phytoplankton would take away the food of every other animal, directly or indirectly. One of the short answer questions asks students to work this out for their chain.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an answer key?

Yes. Turn on Answer key pages and the tool adds pages with the answers filled in. Answers are shown in blue, so you can print the key separately from the student sheet.

Can I print a food web?

Yes. Choose Grassland food web in the Worksheet menu: it shows grass, a grasshopper, a mouse, a frog, a snake and a hawk joined by seven arrows. Students label the six living things, and you can add the herbivore / carnivore / omnivore sort, then print it or download the PDF.

Can I make a food chain cut and paste worksheet?

Yes. Tick Put the stages in order and choose Cut and paste. Students cut out the picture cards and glue them into the empty cycle or chain of boxes.

Does it cost anything or need an account?

No. The tool is free, requires no sign-up, and nothing you create is uploaded to a server.

What are herbivores, carnivores and omnivores?

A herbivore eats only plants, such as a rabbit or a deer. A carnivore eats only other animals, such as an owl or a hawk. An omnivore eats both plants and animals, such as a bear or a raccoon. The forest and food web sheets have a sort activity with these three columns.

Which food chains are included?

Grassland: grass, grasshopper, frog, snake, hawk. Ocean: phytoplankton, zooplankton, small fish, tuna, shark. Forest: oak leaf, caterpillar, robin, owl, with a mushroom as the decomposer. The grassland food web joins grass, a grasshopper, a mouse, a frog, a snake and a hawk.