Teacher sheet · Ages 6–7 · about 45–50 minutes
Eggs, caterpillars and tadpoles
Lesson page: echoesof.science/school/animal-life-cycles/ages-6-7/ · Pupil worksheet: echoesof.science/school/animal-life-cycles/ages-6-7/print/
Learning aims
- Animals grow, change and produce young: a life cycle.
- The butterfly life cycle: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly.
- The frog life cycle: frogspawn, tadpole, froglet, frog.
- Some animals hatch from eggs; many mammals are born alive and drink milk.
Lesson plan
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5 min | Starter: show pictures of a caterpillar and a butterfly. Are they the same animal? |
| 10 min | Read the text together. |
| 20 min | Make a life cycle wheel. |
| 5 min | Play Butterfly or frog? or do the quiz. |
| 5 min | Share: turn your wheel and tell a partner the story. |
Materials for the experiment
- Two paper plates per child
- A split pin (paper fastener)
- Crayons or felt-tip pens
- A pencil and a ruler
- Scissors with round ends
Safety: An adult helps with the split pin, which has sharp ends; fold the legs flat. Use scissors with round ends.
Common misconceptions
| Pupils may think… | Actually… |
|---|---|
| A caterpillar and a butterfly are different animals. | They are the same animal at different stages of its life cycle. |
| Tadpoles are baby fish. | Tadpoles are young frogs; they grow legs and lungs and leave the water. |
| All baby animals hatch from eggs. | Many mammals, like kittens and puppies, are born alive. |
Worksheet answers
- Frogspawn → tadpole → froglet → frog, in a circle.
- A butterfly.
- Any one of: grows legs, grows arms, tail gets smaller, leaves the pond.
Quiz answers
- What hatches out of a butterfly egg? A caterpillar. Butterfly eggs hatch into caterpillars.[1]
- What does a caterpillar do most of the time? Eats and grows. Caterpillars eat plants and grow very big.[1]
- What are lots of frog eggs together called? Frogspawn. Frog eggs in jelly are called frogspawn.[2]
- What happens to a tadpole's tail as it grows into a froglet? It gets smaller and smaller. The tail is slowly absorbed into the body.[2]
- About how long does a chick grow inside its egg? About three weeks. Chicks hatch after about three weeks.[6]
Going further
Make a wheel for the frog or the chicken. Observe life cycles only from pictures, videos or a reputable classroom kit; do not take frogspawn or tadpoles from the wild.
Sources used in this lesson
- [1] The Butterfly Life Cycle Explained (American Museum of Natural History): reliability High
- [2] Frogspawn, tadpoles and froglets (Natural History Museum, London): reliability High
- [5] Animal development: Metamorphosis (Encyclopaedia Britannica): reliability High
- [6] Stages of Chick Embryo Development (Mississippi State University Extension): reliability High
- [7] Mammals (Australian Museum): reliability High
Full list with links and a note on each source's reliability: echoesof.science/school/animal-life-cycles/sources/
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