Predator and Prey

Help your sixth graders understand who hunts and who gets eaten! In this one-page worksheet, students read a short passage about predatory relationships, label six animals as hunter or prey, and then decide if four sentences are true or false.

The passage explains that in a predatory relationship, one organism hunts and eats another. Students learn that the predator is the hunter and the prey is the organism that gets eaten, using a hawk and a mouse as a first example. They also learn that some animals are both predator and prey: a snake eats frogs, but hawks eat snakes. The passage then shows how predator and prey populations affect each other. When there are more rabbits, more young foxes survive, and when foxes eat many rabbits, the rabbit population gets smaller and some foxes go hungry. In the first activity, students read six short scenes, such as an owl catching a mouse or a ladybug eating aphids, and write H for the hunter or E for the prey. In the true or false activity, students check common mix-ups, like thinking predators and prey do not affect each other. The sheet is written to Texas TEKS 6.12B and also fits NGSS MS-LS2-2.

What's inside:

• A short passage with key words in bold
• 6 predator or prey letter rows
• 4 true or false sentences
• A visual answer key with every answer marked in red

How teachers use it:

• As an opener for a lesson on relationships between organisms
• For bell work, stations, or an exit ticket
• As homework or sub plans, with no prep needed

It takes about 5 to 10 minutes and prints clearly in black and white. This worksheet is part of our Reading in Science series for grade 6.