Predators and Prey

TargetTo understand the terms predator

and prey.

Starter

• Discuss with the person next to you what the words below mean

– Predator

– Prey

Predators

• A predator is…

• ….an animal that kills and eats other animals

• Some examples of predators are…..

Prey

• A prey is…

• …...an animal that is killed and eaten (by a predator)

• Some examples or prey are ……

Adaptations

• Predators and prey have different adaptations

• Can you think of any?

Adaptations of predators and prey

Predators Reason Prey ReasonForward facing eyes Eyes facing sideways

Sharp teeth Large ears

Good Eyesight Travel in herds

May hunt in packs Camouflage

Fast runner May hide in burrows

Sharp claws or beak Good sense of smell

Sees prey well

Grip prey

See prey

Better chance of catch

Catch prey

Hold prey

See predator

Hear predator

Less chance of being caught

Hard to see

Difficult to find

Smells predator

Homework task

• Design a super predator and a super prey – draw your own design.

QuestionsQuestions

Core Science - Page 88 and 89Core Science - Page 88 and 89

Feeding Types

We can group animals together in many ways.

One way that we can group them together is in the way that they feed.

Consumers cannot make their own food. They must consume other organisms.

Organisms may be producers. Producers make their own food.

Producer or consumer?

ConsumersConsumers can be grouped into different types:

CarnivoresThese consumers eat other consumers or we might say they eat animals.

Herbivores These consumers eat producers or plants and bacteria.

OmnivoresThese consumers eat both other consumers and producers. So we might say they eat animals and plants. A bit like us!

Ranking Consumers

Food ChainsFood chains show us what is eaten by what. Look at the food chain below:

grass rabbit hawk

The shows the direction of energy flow in the chain. We can imagine that the arrow means ‘eaten by’, so energy is transferred in the direction of the arrow. So this food chain says:

Note that food chains always start with a producer. If this is a plant it can be any parts of the plant , such as the seeds, fruits, leaves or even dead leaves.

Grass is eaten by the rabbit, which is eaten by a hawk.

Draw four different food chains using the following as guidelines:

Food Chains

a) One of your food chains must occur in the forest

b) One of you food chains must occur in the ocean

c) One of your food chains must have four organisms in it

d) One of your food chains must end with you!

Ranking Consumers

We can use a food chain to group organisms in another way:

seaweed limpet crayfish human

ProducerThese organisms

make their own food.

Primary consumerThis is an organism that

eats producers.

Secondary consumerThis is an organism that eats

primary consumers.

Tertiary consumerThis is an organism that

eats secondary consumers. They are sometimes called the

Top carnivore.

Numbers

• Numbers of predators are affected by the number of prey and numbers of prey are affected by the number of predators

• Why might this be?

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson you should:• Know that predators and prey have

different features• Understand that animals are adapted to

eat the food they do• Be able to identify animals as predators or

prey from their characteristics