Polar Food Chains · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Polar Food Chains

Science · Polar Regions · ages 7-9
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. In the Arctic food chain, what do zooplankton eat?

    • fish
    • algae under the ice
    • seals

  2. In the Antarctic food chain, what eats the tiny phytoplankton?

    • krill
    • penguin
    • leopard seal

  3. Penguins get eaten by leopard seals and orcas.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. In the Arctic, a polar bear eats a seal, and that seal ate a fish. What did the fish eat before that?

    • zooplankton
    • krill
    • orcas

  5. This shows the Antarctic food chain with one step missing. What goes in the missing spot?

    planktonkrill?leopard seal
    • fish
    • algae
    • penguin

  6. Which animals sit at the very top of the Antarctic food chain, hunting the penguins?

    • krill and fish
    • leopard seals and orcas
    • phytoplankton and zooplankton

  7. One year, most of the krill in the Antarctic Ocean disappear. What is most likely to happen?

    • Penguins and fish will struggle to find food
    • Phytoplankton will disappear too
    • Leopard seals will have more food than ever

  8. Ben says the Arctic food chain goes: algae, zooplankton, seal, fish, polar bear. What did he get wrong?

    • He swapped algae and zooplankton
    • He left out polar bear
    • He swapped seal and fish
LightMySky · lightmysky.comW1-mt_7nduoLvoB1-s1

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Polar Food Chains W1-mt_7nduoLvoB1-s1

  1. algae under the ice · Zooplankton eat the algae that grows under the Arctic ice. That is the start of the Arctic food chain.
  2. krill · Krill are small, shrimp-like creatures that eat phytoplankton. Then bigger animals eat the krill.
  3. True · Leopard seals and orcas are top hunters in the Antarctic. They hunt penguins for food.
  4. zooplankton · In the Arctic chain, fish eat zooplankton, which get their energy from the algae under the ice.
  5. penguin · Krill are eaten by penguins, and penguins are eaten by leopard seals or orcas.
  6. leopard seals and orcas · Leopard seals and orcas are the top hunters in this chain. Nothing hunts them.
  7. Penguins and fish will struggle to find food · Krill are food for penguins and fish. Without krill, the whole chain above it goes hungry.
  8. He swapped seal and fish · Fish come before seal in the chain. The right order is algae, zooplankton, fish, seal, polar bear.
Worksheet · LightMySky