Living things and their habitats: Life cycles

Objectives
 Describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian an insect and a bird

Plenary
Pupils should discuss in groups: What happens in a human life cycle? Is it similar to the life cycle of
other mammals, such as dogs, cats and horses? How different are the life cycles of non-mammals?

Simple life cycles

Mammals have simple life cycles. Babies grow inside their mothers’ bodies until they are ready for
birth. Birds have similar life cycles, except that chicks grow inside eggs until they are ready to hatch.

Pupils must note:

A baby mammal grows inside its mother’s body and a baby bird grows inside an egg.

Complex life cycles

For mammals and birds, babies/chicks and adults have all the same body parts. This is not the case in
all animals. When animals change form this is called metamorphosis. Pupils may be familiar with the
evolutions (actually metamorphoses) in Pokémon. Which real animals change their form?

Amphibians such as frogs change form. After hatching, they live underwater, breathing through gills.
At this stage, they are called larvae. Eventually they move to land and breathe through lungs instead.
For instance; a frog’s life cycle goes: frogspawn (egg)  tadpole (larva)  frog (adult).

Pupils must note:

A young amphibian lives underwater. When it grows, it changes its shape and moves to the land.

Insects have very complicated life cycles. They hatch from eggs and live first as larvae, typically in
soft, hungry bodies. They then seal themselves in a protective casing called a chrysalis. Here they are
called pupae. While protected, they transform into adults and emerge, fully grown. Demonstrate this
unusual life cycle by showing the pupils a time lapse video of a caterpillar’s transition into a butterfly.

An insect begins life as a larva. They usually turn into a pupa and then transform into an adult.

Pupils should fill in the blank spaces in the worksheet, revising what they have learnt about the life
cycles of different animals.

Words should be in the order: eggs, larvae, metamorphosis, chrysalis, pupae, amphibians, lungs.

Comparing life cycles

ACTIVITY: Pupils search outdoors for an animal, most likely an insect. Use books or the
internet to identify it and learn about its life cycle. The pupils should then research a similar
animal which lives in a different habitat (e.g.: rainforest, ocean, desert). Make a note of at

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least one similarity and one difference between the animals. For instance, pupils may
compare a garden snail with a conch or giant African snail.

It may need to be explained that not all insects follow the egg  larva  pupa  adult life
cycle (some, including grasshoppers, cockroaches and dragonflies follow an egg  nymph
 adult life cycle).

Who studies nature? (Non-statutory)

A person who studies nature is called a naturalist. Jane Goodall is a very famous naturalist.
She worked with chimpanzees (chimps) for more than 50 years and is the only person to have
been accepted into a chimp community. We have known for a long time that chimps are
closely related to humans, but Jane Goodall showed that chimps have individual
personalities, experience emotions and can make tools. This challenged how people think of
humans as superior to the rest of the animals.

Some of the greatest naturalists ever include Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin, who
discovered how living things came to be the way they are today. Naturalists pupils may be
familiar with include the broadcasters David Attenborough and Steve Irwin.

Possible extra-curricular questions

What came first: the chicken or the egg?

The egg. The creature responsible for laying this egg was the ancestor of the chicken.

How are baby animals made?

Animals reproduce by sexual reproduction. This means that special cells (gametes) from a male and a
female are combined. These cells are like a blueprint for a new animal. They split and grow into a
tiny new animal, which is hatched or born.

How do caterpillars change into butterflies?

Chemicals produced in the caterpillar’s body (hormones) tell it when it is ready to transform. It then
glues itself to a twig or leaf and sheds its outer skin, under which is a hard skin; its chrysalis. What
goes on inside a chrysalis is disgusting and fascinating. Through a process called programmed cell
death, it turns part of its body into goo and eats it. This gives it the energy needed to transform.
Hidden inside its body through its whole life were sleeping clumps of cells (imaginal discs) which are
now activated by the chemicals in its body. These cells grow into wings, antennae and other butterfly
parts. When the caterpillar emerges, it has completely transformed.

How do tadpoles change into frogs?

The process is similar to the caterpillar’s metamorphosis. The tadpole’s hormones control the
process. This begins with its lateral line organs (used underwater) being destroyed by programmed
cell death and consumed. The energy gained from this is used to grow new body parts such as legs
and lungs, from clumps of cells.

© Education Umbrella 2015