How Energy Moves in a Food Chain

How Energy Moves in a Food Chain Worksheet: Energy flow in a food chain (Grade 4 Science, TEKS 4.5E)

Students follow a sun, grass, rabbit, and hawk food chain, sort living things by where they get their energy, then circle which way the energy moves. The page teaches the idea first, so no prior lesson is needed, and every answer is on the page.

What's Inside

• A short teach box on energy, plants, animals, and food chain arrows
• A food chain picture with arrows from the sun to the hawk
• Part A: write P (plant) or A (animal) for four living things, first one done
• Part B: three circle the answer questions, first one done
• A raccoon guide with a hint that matches the answer key
• An answer key with answers marked in red, plus a short teacher note with what to watch for

How Teachers Use It

Read the teach box and the worked example together, then let students try Part A and Part B. It takes 8 to 10 minutes and prints clearly in black and white. The focus skill is following how energy flows through a food chain, part of TEKS 4.5E: investigate how energy flows and matter cycles through systems and how matter is conserved.

Why It Works

Each sheet uses familiar things like plants, bikes, ice, and food chains, so the big idea is easy to see. Questions are short, mostly circle or one line answers, and the reasoning is on the teacher key. Pair it with the other seven Grade 4 Big Ideas in Science sheets to cover patterns, cause and effect, scale, systems, energy and matter, structure and function, and stability and change.