Ages 8–12 · Grades 3–7 · 16 levels
Sunthread Run
Follow the Sunthread, a glowing trail of the Sun's energy, from a single leaf through food chains, into a mouth full of teeth, along the whole digestive system and back to the soil. Sort producers and consumers, build food chains, learn the types of teeth and what's inside one, find the organs of digestion on real scientific illustrations, and predict what happens when a food web changes. 16 levels for ages 8–12.
- The digestive system
- Food chains
- Teeth
Levels
A free account unlocks levels 3–4
Create a free account
A subscription unlocks levels 5–16
Try every level free for 30 days
How to play
- Pick an unlocked snag on the Sunthread. Tracer Oru briefs you, then a few short slides teach the idea, or you explore a real scientific picture first.
- Beat each guardian before the timer runs out: sort cards into groups, put food chains and steps in order, find a part on a diagram, fill gaps in a sentence from a word bank, or pick the right answer.
- Every answer comes with a short explanation, right or wrong, so a mistake still teaches you something.
- Score 60% or higher to unlock the next level.
- Levels 1–2 are free with no account. A free account also unlocks levels 3–4.
- A small monthly subscription unlocks every remaining level.
Questions and answers
What age is Sunthread Run for?
Ages 8 to 12, about grades 3 to 7. It starts with sorting plants from animals by how they get food, and ends with predicting what happens across a whole food web.
Which biology topics does it cover?
Producers and consumers, herbivores, carnivores and omnivores, food chains and food webs, the four types of teeth, the inside of a tooth and how a cavity forms, the organs of the digestive system and what each one does, and how decomposers return nutrients to the soil.
Does it match the school curriculum?
Yes. It covers England's Year 4 unit on teeth, digestion and food chains, and reaches into the US NGSS grade 5 and middle-school standards on energy in food, food webs and decomposers.
Does it explain mistakes?
Yes. The wrong answers are the mistakes children really make, such as reading a food-chain arrow backwards or thinking digestion starts in the stomach, and every answer is followed by a short explanation.
Image credits: Servier Medical Art (smart.servier.com), CC BY 4.0: tooth, digestive system · Henry Vandyke Carter, Gray's Anatomy (1918), public domain: lower teeth · CC BY 4.0