School › Animal life cycles
Animal life cycles
Eggs, caterpillars, tadpoles and chicks: how butterflies, frogs, birds and mammals grow up, the difference between complete and incomplete metamorphosis, and the hormones that switch a larva into an adult. Three ages, each with a text, an experiment, a game, a quiz, a printable worksheet and a teacher sheet.
Ages 6–7Eggs, caterpillars and tadpolesAnimals are born, grow, change and have young of their own. Follow a butterfly, a frog and a chicken through their lives, then make your own life cycle wheel.Ages 10–11Life cycles and metamorphosisCompare the life cycles of insects, amphibians, birds and mammals. Learn the difference between complete and incomplete metamorphosis, and make a timeline to scale of a frog's life.Ages 15–16Metamorphosis, hormones and survivalHow hormones control metamorphosis in insects and amphibians, what happens inside a pupa, the timeline of chick embryo development, and why many species produce huge numbers of young. With a survival-model investigation and calculations.