LIFE CYCLES

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P art

I Life Cycles of Plants and Animals

Example 1
Mayflies, also known as green drakes, have 4 stages in their life cycle,
and their young are known as ’nymphs’. Which student(s) made an incorrect statement
about Mayflies and Butterflies?

John: Mayflies, like butterflies, have a 4-stage life cycle.

Clare: The young of the Mayfly closely resembles the adult, unlike the young of
the butterfly.

Adam: The young of the Mayfly has 6 legs.

Simone: The Mayfly pollinates the Rafflesia flower.

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A Adam and Simone C John, Clare and Adam

B Clare and Simone D None of the students

Example 2
The life cycle of a mosquito is shown below. Mosquitos start life as
eggs. How does the life cycle of a plant begin?
2. LIFE CYCLES

A With pollen C With a seedling

B With an egg D With a seed

Example 3
The diagram shows the life cycle of a frog. Which stage in the life
cycle comes after the eggs?
Section I Life Cycles of Plants and Animals 25

2. LIFE CYCLES
A A tadpole with two legs C The embryo
B The tadpole D A tadpole with 4 legs

Example 4
The life cycle of an owl is shown below. Owls begin life as an egg
and grow into a fledgling (baby owl). What is the name of a young plant?
 26 LIFE CYCLES

A Seedling C Flower
2. LIFE CYCLES

B Plant D Seed

Example 5
Plants begin life as seeds and owls begin life as eggs. How does the
life cycle of an insect begin?

A As a seed C As an egg
B As a pupa D As a larva

Example 6
Mosquito eggs grow into larvae. What do a plant seeds grow into?

A An adult plant C A seedling

B A flower D A fruit

Example 7
What is a frog called before it goes through metamorphosis during
its growth stage?
Section I Life Cycles of Plants and Animals 27

A A frog C A tadpole
B An egg D A larva

2. LIFE CYCLES
Example 8
The diagram below shows the life cycle of an insect.
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1. Which of the following is a characteristic of living things which can be concluded

from the chart?

A All living things will eventually die.

B All living things require air, water and food to grow.
C All living things lay eggs to reproduce.
D All living things can grow.
2. What is your observation about the insect’s life cycle stages?

A The eggs hatch after 7 hours.

B The insect’s number of days at each stage decreases as it progresses from
one stage to another.
C The insect is still a larva on the 9th day.
D It would take about 28 days maximum for a housefly to develop from an
egg.

Example 9
An ant is trapped in a small covered box with only 1 small hole with
a small container of syrup. What will eventually happen to the ant after 6 months?

A The ant will die because it did not receive much sunlight.
B The ant will die because it will did not receive enough food.
C The ant will survive as air will be able to pass through the small hole.
2. LIFE CYCLES

D The ant will survive because there is enough food for the ant.

Example 10
A group of scientists studied the life cycle of an insect S. The sci-
entists completely wiped out the population of insect S with the use of pesticides.
However, after some time, farmers in that area with fruit orchards experienced a de-
crease in the production of fruits from their fruit trees. What is the reason behind the
extermination of insect S affecting the production of fruits?

A The extermination of insect S did not allow for pollination of plants to occur,
thus fertilization of the ovaries in these plants did not occur and fruits would not
be produced.

B The extermination of insect S did allow for pollination of plants to occur, thus
fertilization of the ovaries in these plants did not occur and fruits would not be
produced.

C The extermination of insect S did not allow for pollination of plants to occur,
thus fertilization of the ovaries in these plants did occur and fruits would not be
produced.
 Section II Cycles in matter and water 29

D The extermination of insect S did allow for pollination of plants to occur, thus
fertilization of the ovaries in these plants did occur and fruits would not be pro-
duced.

Example 11
During winter, the American bison will travel great distances from
the north of Yellowstone to the south where it is much warmer to feed. Which charac-
teristics of living things does the American bison show when they travel long distances
to feed?

A Living things need food and water to stay alive.

B Living things always move around to find food they like to eat.

C Living things respond to changes.

D Living things reproduce.

2. LIFE CYCLES
II Cycles in matter and water

Example 1
The diagram below shows one of the processes of obtaining clean
drinking water. Water molecules are smaller in size compared to dirt and dust particles.
Water filtered from this process then undergoes UV sterilisation where bacteria and
viruses are killed to make sure it is safe for drinking.