Food ChainsWho eats whom — and which way the arrows really point.2nd GradeA food chain shows how energy moves. The arrow means 'is eaten by'.1THE SUNEvery food chain starts here. All the energy comes from sunlight.2PRODUCERA plant. It makes its own food using sunlight.3PRIMARY CONSUMERA herbivore — eats the plant. Rabbit, caterpillar, cow.4SECONDARY CONSUMERA carnivore — eats the herbivore. Fox, bird, frog.5DECOMPOSERFungi and worms break the dead back down into soil.EXAMPLEgrass → rabbit → foxleaf → caterpillar → bird → hawkThe arrow points the way the energy travels, so it points TOWARDS theeater.Food Chainslearnposters.com
Food Chains — printable science wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

Food Chains, step by step

A food chain shows how energy moves. The arrow means 'is eaten by'.

  1. THE SUNEvery food chain starts here. All the energy comes from sunlight.
  2. PRODUCERA plant. It makes its own food using sunlight.
  3. PRIMARY CONSUMERA herbivore — eats the plant. Rabbit, caterpillar, cow.
  4. SECONDARY CONSUMERA carnivore — eats the herbivore. Fox, bird, frog.
  5. DECOMPOSERFungi and worms break the dead back down into soil.

example

  • grass → rabbit → fox
  • leaf → caterpillar → bird → hawk

The arrow points the way the energy travels, so it points TOWARDS the eater.

Questions about the Food Chains poster

What’s on the Food Chains poster?
5 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. A food chain shows how energy moves. The arrow means 'is eaten by'. THE SUN — Every food chain starts here. All the energy comes from sunlight.; PRODUCER — A plant. It makes its own food using sunlight.; PRIMARY CONSUMER — A herbivore — eats the plant. Rabbit, caterpillar, cow.; SECONDARY CONSUMER — A carnivore — eats the herbivore. Fox, bird, frog.; DECOMPOSER — Fungi and worms break the dead back down into soil.. The arrow points the way the energy travels, so it points TOWARDS the eater.
Who is the Food Chains poster for?
Food Chains is filed under 2nd Grade (ages 7–8), so it matches what that year asks a child to remember. It is equally useful to an older student revisiting science, and to the parent or teacher answering the question at the kitchen table.
When should you use the Food Chains poster?
Build one from your own garden: leaf, slug, bird, cat. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Food Chains belongs on the wall where that science work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Food Chains?
Habitats, Life Cycle of a Chicken and Magnets sit alongside Food Chains in the 2nd Grade set. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.HabitatsLife Cycle of a ChickenMagnets
Is the Food Chains poster free to download and print?
Yes. Food Chains downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the 2nd Grade set. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Food Chains poster print at?
Food Chains is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Food Chains loses nothing.Printing guide

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Charts that sit alongside Food Chains on the same wall.

Browse every 2nd Grade poster, or start from the full catalogue.