A prey is an animal that is caught and eaten by another animal.

A predator is an animal that hunts and eats other  animals.

An adaptation is a feature that organisms have to help them live in a particular place.

Camouflage is a strategy that organisms use to disguise their appearance, usually by blending in with their surroundings.

Adaptations of predators and prey

Science

Food chains

Predator-prey relationships

Food webs

Ecosystems and habitats

Pollination and human food security

Using chemicals in farming

Bioaccumulation

The importance of biodiversity

Pupils will move on to construct and interpret pyramids of number and biomass from food chains data. Pupils will learn about how plants and animals are adapted to survive and the impact of changes to the environment on biodiversity. The importance of biodiversity and the importance of gene banks. How to sample plant and animal populations to aid our understanding and monitoring of populations. 

In Y4 pupils learnt about their local environment and to recognise that environments can change. Pupils also explored examples of human impact (both positive and negative) on environments. Pupils looked at a variety of food chains to identify producers, predators and prey.

This unit explores the interdependence of organisms in ecosystems, including food webs and insect-pollinated crops. It examines how organisms interact with their environment and the impact of toxic materials. It also highlights the importance of biodiversity and preserving genetic material.

Ecosystems

The picture shows a lizard. Which of the following are adaptations that help the lizard to avoid being eaten by predators.

How many predators are there in the following food chain diagram?

The insect in the photo is bright red and black. Which adaptations might this insect have to stop predators from eating it?

Helps prey to blend into the surroundings.

Helps to detect movement from a wider area.

They appear to be another organism that may be poisonous.

May be used to startle a predator or deflect an attack. 

May make it difficult for the predator to attack the prey.

Match the adaptation to how it helps prey to avoid predators. 

Use the information to put the following organisms in a food chain. Lettuces produce their own food. Cats are apex predators. Thrushes are predators of slugs. Thrushes are prey of cats.

Helps the predator remain camouflaged to creep up on prey.

Helps the predator to grab and kill the prey.

Helps the predator to run quickly to catch prey.

Match how the adaptation of predators helps them to catch prey.

A {{}} is an organism which is hunted as food by a predator.

The image below shows a food chain diagram. Which organism is the apex predator?

Complete the sentence. A {{}} is an organism that makes its own food.

Look at the food chain diagram from a desert. Match the organism with the correct statement.

The blackbird population will stay the same.

Blackbirds are predators of slugs. Slugs are prey of blackbirds. What will happen to the population of blackbirds if there is a very large population of slugs?

Adaptations of predators and prey

Lesson outcome