Predator Prey Worksheet - Free Printable

This worksheet is titled “Predator and Prey” and serves as an Answer Key, meaning it provides the correct answers to a matching or identification exercise. The goal is to help students understand the ecological relationship between predators (hunters) and prey (the hunted).

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🧠 Key Definitions from the Worksheet:

- Predator: An animal that hunts other animals for food.
- Prey: An animal that is hunted and eaten for food.

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✔ Solution & Explanation for Each Scenario:

We’ll go through each numbered scenario and explain why the predator and prey are correctly identified.

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#### 1. A snapping turtle in a pond eats a small perch.
- Predator: *snapping turtle*
- Prey: *perch*

✔ Explanation: The snapping turtle is actively hunting and consuming the perch. Therefore, the turtle is the predator, and the perch is the prey.

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#### 2. A shrew is eaten by a barn owl.
- Predator: *barn owl*
- Prey: *shrew*

✔ Explanation: The phrase “is eaten by” clearly indicates the barn owl is doing the eating — making it the predator. The shrew is being consumed — making it the prey.

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#### 3. A seagull lands near an alligator and the alligator eats it.
- Predator: *alligator*
- Prey: *seagull*

✔ Explanation: Even though the seagull landed near the alligator (perhaps accidentally), the alligator eats it — so the alligator is the predator, and the seagull becomes its prey.

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#### 4. A gray wolf hunts and eats a rabbit.
- Predator: *gray wolf*
- Prey: *rabbit*

✔ Explanation: The wolf is described as hunting and eating the rabbit — classic predator-prey behavior. Wolves are apex predators; rabbits are common prey animals.

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#### 5. A blue whale swallows krill.
- Predator: *blue whale*
- Prey: *krill*

✔ Explanation: Although krill are tiny planktonic crustaceans, they are still prey because the blue whale consumes them in massive quantities. The whale is the predator — even if it doesn’t “hunt” in the traditional sense, it feeds on krill.

> 📝 Note: In ecology, “predator” can include filter feeders like whales that consume smaller organisms — as long as one organism consumes another for energy.

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#### 6. A penguin is captured and eaten by a leopard seal.
- Predator: *leopard seal*
- Prey: *penguin*

✔ Explanation: Again, “is captured and eaten by” points directly to the leopard seal as the predator. Penguins are often preyed upon by seals in Antarctic ecosystems.

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#### 7. A robin pulls an earthworm from the lawn and eats it.
- Predator: *robin*
- Prey: *earthworm*

✔ Explanation: Robins are well-known for pulling earthworms out of the ground to eat. The robin is the hunter/feeder (predator), and the earthworm is the food source (prey).

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🎯 Summary of All Answers:

| # | Scenario | Predator | Prey |
|---|-----------------------------------------------|----------------|--------------|
| 1 | Snapping turtle eats perch | snapping turtle| perch |
| 2 | Shrew eaten by barn owl | barn owl | shrew |
| 3 | Alligator eats seagull | alligator | seagull |
| 4 | Gray wolf hunts and eats rabbit | gray wolf | rabbit |
| 5 | Blue whale swallows krill | blue whale | krill |
| 6 | Penguin eaten by leopard seal | leopard seal | penguin |
| 7 | Robin eats earthworm | robin | earthworm |

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💡 Teaching Tip:

This worksheet reinforces the concept that predator-prey relationships are not always about big vs. small or fierce vs. gentle — it’s about who eats whom. Even animals we think of as “harmless” (like robins or whales) can be predators in their ecosystems.

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✔ Final Answer: All answers provided in the image are correctly identified based on ecological definitions of predator and prey. No changes needed — this is an accurate answer key.