Predator and Prey Populations

Show your sixth graders how predators and prey shape each other's numbers! In this one-page worksheet, students read about the Canada lynx and the snowshoe hare, read a small data table, and put the steps of a population cycle in order.

The passage explains that the Canada lynx hunts snowshoe hares, its main food, and that scientists noticed the two populations rise and fall in a cycle that repeats about every ten years. Students follow the cycle step by step. When hares have plenty of plants, their population grows. With more hares to hunt, more young lynx survive. Soon the many lynx eat so many hares that the hare population drops, and then many lynx go hungry and their population drops too. With fewer lynx, the hares grow again. The passage ends with a key idea: the predator population usually rises and falls a little after the prey population. In the first activity, students read a four-row table of example hare and lynx counts and answer two questions. In the second activity, students number the five steps of the cycle in order. The sheet is written to Texas TEKS 6.12B and also fits NGSS MS-LS2-2.

What's inside:

• A short passage with a wide picture and key words in bold
• A small data table with 2 questions
• A 5-step sequencing activity
• A visual answer key with every answer marked in red

How teachers use it:

• As data practice during a unit on ecosystems
• 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.