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Year 7

Predator-prey relationships

I can describe and explain the relationship between predator and prey populations.

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New
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Year 7

Predator-prey relationships

I can describe and explain the relationship between predator and prey populations.

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Share activities with pupils
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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Predators are hunters and prey are hunted.
  2. Different factors can affect the population sizes of predators and prey (e.g. disease).
  3. There is a relationship between the predator and prey population sizes, each is impacted by changes in the other.

Keywords

  • Predator - An animal that hunts and eats another animal.

  • Prey - An animal that is caught and eaten by another animal.

  • Population - A group of organisms of the same type, in the same place, is called a population.

Common misconception

The change in the size of a population will only affect another population if they are predator-prey

Ensure that pupils are given opportunities to see how changes in population size impact all other organisms in the food chain.


To help you plan your year 7 science lesson on: Predator-prey relationships, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Give pupils plenty of opportunities to explore the predators and prey within different food chains. In particular, get pupils to think about those organisms that are only prey, those that are both predators and prey and those that are apex predators.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In a food chain diagram, animals can be:
only producers
Correct answer: only consumers
both producers and consumers
Q2.
A food chain diagram is an example of a . These help us to understand difficult things more simply.
Correct Answer: model, models
Q3.
Look at the food chain diagram. It shows four organisms. Match the organism with the word that describes its position in the food chain.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer:cabbage,producer
tick

producer

Correct Answer:caterpillar,primary consumer
tick

primary consumer

Correct Answer:chaffinch,secondary consumer
tick

secondary consumer

Correct Answer:cat,tertiary consumer
tick

tertiary consumer

Q4.
What is wrong with this food chain?
An image in a quiz
The arrows are facing the wrong direction.
Correct answer: The organisms are in the wrong order.
The sun is missing.
There is no producer.
Q5.
What is wrong with this food chain?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: The arrows are facing the wrong direction.
The organisms are in the wrong order.
The sun is missing.
There is no producer.
Q6.
Look at the picture of this food chain diagram. Choose the correct statement.
An image in a quiz
The food chain shows us the size of the populations.
There are three organisms in the food chain.
Correct answer: There are three populations in the food chain.
There are three consumers in this food chain.
Q3 UYSEG Q4 UYSEG Q5 UYSEG Q6 UYSEG

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
A is the number of organisms of one type that lives in a given area.
Correct Answer: population
Q2.
Births, deaths and migration can all impact the size of a population. Match the words with how they are most likely to change the size of a population.
Correct Answer:births,increase the size of a population
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increase the size of a population

Correct Answer:deaths,decrease the size of a population
tick

decrease the size of a population

Correct Answer:migration,can increase or decrease the size of a population
tick

can increase or decrease the size of a population

Q3.
In this food chain diagram, which organism is the predator of the cod?
An image in a quiz
algae
shrimp
cod
Correct answer: seal
polar bear
Q4.
The graph shows the size of a population of rabbits. Which of the following is most likely to explain the shape of the graph?
An image in a quiz
There is lots of food available for the rabbits.
Correct answer: There has been an outbreak of a disease.
There has been a natural disaster, for example a flood.
Q5.
Which graph represents a predator-prey model?
Graph A
Correct answer: Graph B
Graph C
Q6.
Arctic foxes are predators of arctic hares. The population of arctic hares increases. What will happen to the population of arctic foxes and why?
The arctic fox population will decrease because there is less food to eat.
The arctic fox population will decrease because there is more food to eat.
The arctic fox population will increase because there is less food to eat.
Correct answer: The arctic fox population will increase because there is more food to eat.
Q3 UYSEG Q4 UYSEG Q5 image 1 UYSEG Q5 image 2 UYSEG Q5 image 3 UYSEG

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