Science·Polar Regions·conceptual
Polar Food Chains
Understand polar food chains — in the Antarctic, phytoplankton are eaten by krill, krill are eaten by fish and penguins, and penguins are eaten by leopard seals and orcas; in the Arctic, algae under ice feeds zooplankton, which feeds fish, which feeds seals, which feeds polar bears — and that tiny organisms like krill and plankton are the foundation of all polar life
Suggested ages 7–9
Evidence of understanding
- Construct an Antarctic food chain: phytoplankton → krill → penguin → leopard seal or orca
- Construct an Arctic food chain: algae → zooplankton → fish → seal → polar bear
- Explain why krill and plankton are critical — without them, the entire food chain collapses
Assessment prompt
Can Polar Food Chains explain a polar food chain — starting from tiny plankton, through krill and fish, up to seals and polar bears or orcas — and explain why the tiny creatures at the bottom are so important?
Standards alignment
No external standards are linked to this topic.