 A food chain is a list of animals that eat each other.  At the top of the food chain are the largest carnivores, such as lions and tigers. They only eat meat, and they eat animals below them in the food chain. Large birds of prey like eagles are also at the top of the food chain. Animals at the top of the food chain are not hunted and eaten by other animals.

 Then come the animals that eat other small animals. Snakes eat mice, but are eaten by foxes and hawks. Owls eat frogs and mice, but eagles eat owls.  Then we have animals that only eat plants (herbivores). Animals such as mice, rabbits, deer and squirrels are in this group.

 At the very bottom of the food chain we have plants, such as grass.

 Everywhere you look, you can find examples of food chains. In the sea, the desert, the jungle and even in your garden.

 At the top of the food chain are eagles, which eat the owls.  Then come the owls, which eat frogs.  Frogs eat butterflies and caterpillars.  Butterflies and caterpillars eat the grass.  Grass is at the bottom of the food chain.

 You might think that some animals are not very important, but what would happen if one animal in a food chain became extinct?  Look at the food chain with the eagles, owls, frogs and butterflies. Which animal is the most important?

 Is it the eagles at the top?  Or the butterflies and caterpillars at the bottom?  Or maybe the frogs and owls?  The answer is simple – all of them are equally important! They all depend on each other.

 This is why we call it a food chain – because all the animals are linked together like the links on a chain. If we take one animal out, all the other animals are affected too.  What is there were no butterflies or caterpillars? There would be nothing for the frogs to eat. If the frogs all died, there would be nothing for the owls to eat. And if there were no owls, the eagles would have no food.

 So just because an animal is small and is at the bottom of the food chain, this does not mean that it is not important.  All the animals are linked together, and if one of them dies out then this affects all the other animals. This is why it is important to protect animals, and to stop them from becoming extinct.

 Each group will need (print as required)  Food chain board for each player  Food chain counters for each player  Food chain game instruction card  Completed food chain poster  In addition each group will need:  A dice

 The aim of this 3-6 player game is to be the first player to complete the food chain.  To complete your food chain you must collect:  8 butterflies, 4 frogs, 2 owls, 1 eagle  Each player takes turns to roll the dice. Depending on which number you throw, you can collect an animal: 1 or 2 = butterfly3 = frog4 = owl 5 = eagle6 = any animal

 BUT you can only collect an animal if the animal above it has already been collected.  You must start by collecting an eagle (so you must throw a 5 or 6)  You then need an owl (throw a 4 or 6)  When you have an owl, you can then collect a frog, and so on down the food chain, following the lines on the board.  The winner is the first person to collect all their counters and complete their food chain.  The completed food chain poster shows what your food chain should look like.