1. The slide show was designed and produced for the NMA by STEP, the
Science Training &
Education Partnership
Training &
Science
Education
Partnership
The material in this slide show is provided free for educational use only. All other forms of storage or reproduction are subject to copyright- please contact the National Marine Aquarium

2. Food chains and food webs -
‘who eats whom’

3. Plants and animals living in a habitat can be linked together

4. Food chains show how food passes from one living thing to another

5. All food chains start with a Plant
Plants can make their own food, using sunlight

6. The arrows show the food chain
FOX
An animal that eats other animals
RABBIT
An animal that eats plants
GRASS
A plant - makes its own food
This is a simple and familiar example
The arrows show the food chain

7. Food chains work in the same way in the sea ...
… but the plants and animals look a bit different!

8. Out in the ocean, there is no grass or trees
FISH
An animal that eats other animals
COPEPOD
A tiny animal that eats plants
Out in the ocean, there is no grass or trees
ALGAE
Microscopic plants - make their own food
The plants are tiny ALGAE - you need a microscope to see them
Note that the individual algal cells are about one-hundreth of a millimetre across. The copepod is a few millimetres long
This is a food chain in the ocean

9. This food chain wouldn’t stop here ...
The small plankton-eating fish from the last slide can be eaten by a larger predatory fish, which in turn can be eaten by a fish like a tuna or a shark

10. In most habitats, there are several food chains
These are linked together to form a Food Web

11. Food webs can be quite complicated
Here is one from the ocean around Antarctica

12. Squid eat fish and krill
Seals eat
squid and fish
Squid eat fish and krill
Fish eat krill and copepods
The diagram traces the possible routes through the food web
Green arrows join the producer - algae - to herbivores. Pink arrows are consumer-consumer links
A simple food chain - whale eats krill eats algae
Copepods also eat algae, and are eaten by krill
This food web contains 7 types of living things, and 9 food chains

13. The shortest food chain in the Antarctic food web has two links

14. Arrows represent links

15. The longest food chain in the Antarctic food web has five links

17. You have seen that -
A food chain links plants and animals in a habitat
All food chains start with a plant

18. You have seen that -
Food chains on land and in the ocean are similar
Food chains can be linked to form food webs

19. www.justaddh2o.tv www.national-aquarium.co.uk NOTES for USERS
The material in this slide show is designed to support the teaching of science at Key Stage 1
A full description of the slide show, and linked activities for students, can be found on the National Marine Aquarium (NMA) web-site:
Teachers are free to amend the slide show in whatever way they feel fit, or to use slides in other contexts. However, please note that neither the NMA nor the designers will accept responsibility for modifications, and original material remains copyright of the NMA
Individual images used in the slides are copyright of NMA or STEP,
except where acknowledged separately
The slides have been set up to display as A4 landscape format. If they are incorporated into other slide sequences with different display settings, change in aspect ratio and text location will occur
The slide sequence contains the minimum of effects and transitions. However, there are some automated animations, and teachers will wish to make sure that they are familiar with the sequence before use in class
Use the PowerPoint notes viewer to obtain additional information for some slides