Science Organisms & Life Processesusually ages 10–11

Energy from Food & the Sun

Use models to describe that energy in animals' food was once energy from the sun, transferred through plants or other organisms

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Explain that plants capture energy from sunlight to make food (photosynthesis)
Trace an energy pathway: sun → plant → animal → another animal
Explain that animals use food energy for body repair, growth, movement, and warmth

🖨 Print this page to keep the checklist — it prints beautifully.

Try this together

Can your child trace the energy in their breakfast cereal all the way back to the sun, explaining each step?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Animal Nutritionages 7–8Must understand nutrition and food before tracing energy from sun through food chains

Plants Grow from Air & Waterages 10–11Must know plants get materials from air/water (photosynthesis) before tracing sun energy through food

Energy from Food & the Sunthis skill · ages 10–11

Unlocks

Matter Cycling in Ecosystemsages 10–11Energy flow from sun through organisms supports understanding matter cycling

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

Show candidate curriculum codes · 1 ACARA · 2 NSW · 3 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9S4U01medium confidenceYear 4 · Science understanding

explain the roles and interactions of consumers, producers and decomposers within a habitat and how food chains represent feeding relationships

NSW syllabus codes & stages only

ST2-SCI-01low confidenceScience and Technology K-6 · Stage 2

ST2-PQU-01low confidenceScience and Technology K-6 · Stage 2

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2S4U03low confidenceScience · Levels 3 and 4 · Science Understanding strand

VC2S4U09low confidenceScience · Levels 3 and 4 · Science Understanding strand

VC2TDE6C01low confidenceDesign and Technologies · Levels 5 and 6 · Technologies Contexts strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Diet, Exercise & Lifestyleages 10–11 Evolution vocabularyages 10–11 Nutrient Transport in Animalsages 10–11 Plants Grow from Air & Waterages 10–11

All Organisms & Life Processes skills →