Lessons

Animal Life Cycles

Butterfly on a flower

Butterfly on a flower (dMz, Pixabay)

Butterfly on a flower

Butterfly on a flower (dMz, Pixabay)

Biology,  Science
Let's Talk Science

How does this align with my curriculum?

Curriculum Alignment
NL 2 Science 2 (2016) Unit 4: Animal Growth and Changes
QC Elementary Cycle 2 Science and Technology, Elementary Living Things
BC 2 Science Grade 2 (June 2016) Big Idea: Living things have life cycles adapted to their environment.
MB 2 Science Grade 2 (1999) Cluster 1: Growth and Changes in Animals
NB 2 You and Your World (K-2) (2005) Unit 1 – Growth and Development
NB 3 Science 3: Our Local Environment October (2019) Animals
NL K Exploring My World (2010) Introduction to Life Cycles
NS 2 Science 2 (2019) Life Science: Animal Growth and Changes
NU 2 K-6 Science and Technology Curriculum (NWT, 2004) Life Systems: Growth and Changes in Animals
PE 2 Science Grade 2 (2012) Life Science
YT 2 Science Grade 2 (British Columbia, June 2016) Big Idea: Living things have life cycles adapted to their environment.
SK 2 Science Grade 2 (2011) Life Science – Animal Growth and Changes (AN)
ON 2 Science and Technology, Grades 2 (2022) Strand B. Life Systems; Growth and Changes in Animals
NT 2 K-6 Science and Technology Curriculum (NWT, 2004) Life Systems: Growth and Changes in Animals
AB 2 Science 2 (2023) Living Systems: Understandings of the living world, Earth, and space are deepened by investigating natural systems and their interactions.

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Students develop sorting & classifying and comparing & contrasting skills as they investigate the life cycles of animals.

Overview

Students explore different types of life cycles of familiar animals, and compare and contrast the stages within them.

Timing
45- 60 minutes

Setting the Stage

This inquiry provides opportunities for students to develop their sorting and classifying and comparing and contrasting skills as they explore the life cycles of familiar animals. Science has a classification system for organizing all of the animals on Earth, including humans. These classifications focus on similarities and differences such as an animal’s physical appearance. Another area considered is whether the animal’s babies are born alive (like human babies), or from eggs (like fish). As students explore different types of life cycles and compare and contrast the stages within them, they will develop an understanding of and appreciation for the diversity of life on Earth.

This inquiry could begin from:

  • questions or comments initiated by the students after seeing an adult butterfly in the schoolyard. Discuss using questions such as:
    • “Where do adult butterflies come from?”
    • “Is this butterfly an adult? Why do you think this?”
    • “Do you think the butterfly was born looking like this? Why do you think that?”
    • “Do all animals come from caterpillars like this butterfly? Tell me more about that.”
Newly hatched Monarch butterfly
Newly hatched Monarch butterfly (Source: Kei Rothblack via Pixabay).
  • a selection of images, floor puzzles, models or manipulatives of different animals throughout their life cycles for students to explore. Discuss using questions such as:
    • “What differences do you see among the animals? What do you notice that is the same?” 
    • “How do these animals’ life cycles differ? How are they the same?” 
    • “Do all types of animals have the same life cycle stages?” (e.g., mammals, insects, amphibians)
    • “How does this animal look when it is born? How does it look when it is an adult?”
    • “What comes first in the life cycle? What comes next? How can you tell?”

 

The life cycle of a frog
The life cycle of a frog (Source: Dualororua via iStockphoto).
  •  reading a book such as What Will Hatch?, An Egg is Quiet or Leaps and Bounce. Discuss using questions such as:
    • “Can you tell what type of animal will hatch from an egg? Why or why not?”
    • “Do all animals start in an egg? Tell me more about that.”
    • “Do all eggs have hard shells like chicken eggs? Do you know any animals that lay eggs with soft shells or no shells?”

 

Details

A collection of pictures of animals at different stages of their life cycles and different kinds of life cycle

Butterflies at different stages of their life cycles
Butterflies at different stages of their life cycles (Source: collage by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/skeeze-272447/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1696221">skeeze</a> via <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/collage-butterflies-caterpillar-1696221/">Pixabay</a>).

 

Collect pictures of animal life cycles. You may wish to use these images of Animals: Babies and Adults.

Students use the Sorting Mats learning strategy to develop and apply the skill of Sorting & Classifying and Comparing & Contrasting to learn about animal life cycles.

Students:

  • work in small collaborative groups to explore, observe, sort and classify a variety of examples of different stages in animal life cycles and different kinds of life cycles.
  • record their results of the sorting on an organizer of their choice, using words, pictures, models, and/or photographs.
  • explain their reasons for sorting the stages/life cycles in the way they did.
  • compare and contrast the different stages of a variety of animals’ life cycles (e.g., compare the egg stage for several animals). They can also compare and contrast the different types of life cycles (e.g., mammal vs amphibian vs insect).
Students observing tadpoles
Students observing tadpoles (Source: Pezibear via Pixabay).
Baby penguin
Baby penguin (Source: Siggy Nowak via Pixabay).

Observe and document, using anecdotal comments, photos and/or video recordings, students’ ability to:

  • Observe - students apply prior knowledge and skills to explore similarities and differences in stages in animal life cycles and complete animal life cycles.
Chicken egg Frog egg
Laid in nests, on the floor of the coop, or on the ground - dark dry places Laid in or on water – moist wet places
Hard protective shell Soft jelly-like
One at a time In large groups
  • Sort & Classify – students sort and classify stages of life cycles and complete life cycles according to self-determined criteria and describe the criteria. 
Wooly Bear moth caterpillar
Wooly Bear moth caterpillar (Source: Davgood Kirshot via Pixabay).
Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar
Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar (Source: Dimitris Vetsikas via Pixabay).
Monarch butterfly caterpillar
Monarch butterfly caterpillar (Source: 631372 via Pixabay).
Tomato hornworm moth caterpillar
Tomato hornworm moth caterpillar (Source: Margaret Martin via Pixabay).

  “These are all caterpillars. When they are adult butterflies they will have wings.”

  • Compare & Contrast - students find similarities and differences in the life cycles of various animals
    • Same:
      • Eggs look very different from adults
    • Different: 
      • Stages in their life cycles are different
      • Butterfly goes through 4 stages
      • Frog goes through 6 stages
      • Jellyfish goes through 8 stages
Swallowtail butterfly
Swallowtail butterfly (Source: smarko via Pixabay).
Ouaouaron adulte
Ouaouaron adulte (Source: Carl D. Howe [CC BY-SA 2.5] via Wikimedia Commons).
Moon jellyfish adult
Moon jellyfish adult (Source: Hans Hillewaert via Wikimedia Commons).
  • Collaborate – students work with others to complete a task.
  • Record – students record results of the life cycle comparison using words and/or pictures and/or with the aid of a graphic organizer.
  • Communicate – students use appropriate language in discussions about animal life cycles.

 

Students:
Saying, Doing, Representing		 Educator:
Interactions: Responding, Challenging

Students observe and sort and classify different stages of animal life cycles/types of animal life cycles.

Students explain the rules for their classifications.
  • “What do you notice about all of the pictures on the table?”
  • “What can you tell me about why you sorted these pictures the way you did?”
  • “If I wanted to add this to your sort, would it fit? Why/why not?”
  • “What classification rule did you use?”

Students compare and contrast the life cycles of a variety of animals.

Students record their findings using words or pictures with the aid of a graphic organizer.
  • “What else is the same about all of the things in this group?” (e.g., all have the same 4 stage life cycle; they are all insects) “What differences do you notice?” (e.g., they all look different at each stage)
  • “How is the life cycle of an insect the same as the life cycle of an amphibian? How are their life cycles different?”
Students work collaboratively with others to complete a task.
  • “I notice that everyone in your group listens to each other before sharing other suggestions and ideas.”
  • “It is hard to ask for help when you aren’t sure how to do something. What are some things that we can say when someone asks us for help?”
  • “What are some ways that your group shared tasks?”

 

Literacy

  • choose appropriate and relevant words to communicate meaning accurately (e.g., when describing physical features and characteristics of animal life cycles)
  • understand the criteria involved in working constructively together to complete a task (e.g., one person speaks at a time) 

Mathematical Thinking

  • identify attributes that can be compared (e.g., number of stages in animal life cycles) and describe the stages using relative terms
  • compare the ordinal position of a specific object in two different given sequences (e.g., compare the adult stage in a variety of animal life cycles – 8th, 4th)
     

If your students are interested in learning more, the following may provoke their curiosity:

  • What similarities and differences do you find between the human life cycle and any of the animal life cycles that you investigated?
  • How do different animal parents care for their offspring throughout their life cycles?
  • How does the life cycle of a plant compare to some of the animal life cycles you have explored? Visit the Tomatosphere™ website for a backgrounder about the life cycle of a tomato plant.
Human baby
Human baby (Source: jessicaerichsenkent via Pixabay).
Koala mother and infant
Koala mother and infant (Source: Holger Detje via Pixabay).
Plant seedling
Plant seedling (Source: Rommel Diaz via Pixabay).

 

Cover of What Will Hatch by Jennifer Ward
Cover of What Will Hatch by Jennifer Ward (Source: Let's Talk Science)

What Will Hatch?
by Jennifer Ward
What is more exciting than waiting for an egg to hatch? From a squiggly tadpole to fuzzy robin to a leathery platypus, this book shows eight different animals as they begin life.
ISBN: 9780802723116

Cover of An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston
Cover of An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston (Source: Open Library).

An Egg is Quiet
By Dianna Hutts Aston
Featuring poetic text and an elegant design, this book teaches children countless interesting facts about eggs.
ISBN 9780545054249

Cover of Leaps and Bounce by Susan Hood
Cover of Leaps and Bounce by Susan Hood (Source: Susanhoodbooks.com).

Leaps and Bounce
By Susan Hood
Change comes to all who grow. Even tiny tadpoles. Follow them as they start out as small, rounded eggs, and then sprout wiggly tails, before leaping their way into the big wide world!
ISBN 978-1423152347

 

Plant Life Cycle (Lessons)

Students develop and apply the skills of observing, comparing & contrasting, and communicating as they explore life cycles of familiar plants.

Plant Reproduction (Backgrounders) 

Learn about sexual and asexual reproduction in plants.

The Life Cycle of a Tomato Plant (Backgrounders) 

Backgrounder outlining the life cycle of a tomato plant.

Materials

A collection of pictures of animals at different stages of their life cycles and different kinds of life cycle

Butterflies at different stages of their life cycles
Butterflies at different stages of their life cycles (Source: collage by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/skeeze-272447/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1696221">skeeze</a> via <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/collage-butterflies-caterpillar-1696221/">Pixabay</a>).

 

Preparation

Collect pictures of animal life cycles. You may wish to use these images of Animals: Babies and Adults.

What to Do

Students use the Sorting Mats learning strategy to develop and apply the skill of Sorting & Classifying and Comparing & Contrasting to learn about animal life cycles.

Students:

  • work in small collaborative groups to explore, observe, sort and classify a variety of examples of different stages in animal life cycles and different kinds of life cycles.
  • record their results of the sorting on an organizer of their choice, using words, pictures, models, and/or photographs.
  • explain their reasons for sorting the stages/life cycles in the way they did.
  • compare and contrast the different stages of a variety of animals’ life cycles (e.g., compare the egg stage for several animals). They can also compare and contrast the different types of life cycles (e.g., mammal vs amphibian vs insect).
Students observing tadpoles
Students observing tadpoles (Source: Pezibear via Pixabay).
Baby penguin
Baby penguin (Source: Siggy Nowak via Pixabay).

Assessment

Observe and document, using anecdotal comments, photos and/or video recordings, students’ ability to:

  • Observe - students apply prior knowledge and skills to explore similarities and differences in stages in animal life cycles and complete animal life cycles.
Chicken egg Frog egg
Laid in nests, on the floor of the coop, or on the ground - dark dry places Laid in or on water – moist wet places
Hard protective shell Soft jelly-like
One at a time In large groups
  • Sort & Classify – students sort and classify stages of life cycles and complete life cycles according to self-determined criteria and describe the criteria. 
Wooly Bear moth caterpillar
Wooly Bear moth caterpillar (Source: Davgood Kirshot via Pixabay).
Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar
Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar (Source: Dimitris Vetsikas via Pixabay).
Monarch butterfly caterpillar
Monarch butterfly caterpillar (Source: 631372 via Pixabay).
Tomato hornworm moth caterpillar
Tomato hornworm moth caterpillar (Source: Margaret Martin via Pixabay).

  “These are all caterpillars. When they are adult butterflies they will have wings.”

  • Compare & Contrast - students find similarities and differences in the life cycles of various animals
    • Same:
      • Eggs look very different from adults
    • Different: 
      • Stages in their life cycles are different
      • Butterfly goes through 4 stages
      • Frog goes through 6 stages
      • Jellyfish goes through 8 stages
Swallowtail butterfly
Swallowtail butterfly (Source: smarko via Pixabay).
Ouaouaron adulte
Ouaouaron adulte (Source: Carl D. Howe [CC BY-SA 2.5] via Wikimedia Commons).
Moon jellyfish adult
Moon jellyfish adult (Source: Hans Hillewaert via Wikimedia Commons).
  • Collaborate – students work with others to complete a task.
  • Record – students record results of the life cycle comparison using words and/or pictures and/or with the aid of a graphic organizer.
  • Communicate – students use appropriate language in discussions about animal life cycles.

 

Co-constructed Learning

Students:
Saying, Doing, Representing		 Educator:
Interactions: Responding, Challenging

Students observe and sort and classify different stages of animal life cycles/types of animal life cycles.

Students explain the rules for their classifications.
  • “What do you notice about all of the pictures on the table?”
  • “What can you tell me about why you sorted these pictures the way you did?”
  • “If I wanted to add this to your sort, would it fit? Why/why not?”
  • “What classification rule did you use?”

Students compare and contrast the life cycles of a variety of animals.

Students record their findings using words or pictures with the aid of a graphic organizer.
  • “What else is the same about all of the things in this group?” (e.g., all have the same 4 stage life cycle; they are all insects) “What differences do you notice?” (e.g., they all look different at each stage)
  • “How is the life cycle of an insect the same as the life cycle of an amphibian? How are their life cycles different?”
Students work collaboratively with others to complete a task.
  • “I notice that everyone in your group listens to each other before sharing other suggestions and ideas.”
  • “It is hard to ask for help when you aren’t sure how to do something. What are some things that we can say when someone asks us for help?”
  • “What are some ways that your group shared tasks?”

 

Cross curricular Connections

Literacy

  • choose appropriate and relevant words to communicate meaning accurately (e.g., when describing physical features and characteristics of animal life cycles)
  • understand the criteria involved in working constructively together to complete a task (e.g., one person speaks at a time) 

Mathematical Thinking

  • identify attributes that can be compared (e.g., number of stages in animal life cycles) and describe the stages using relative terms
  • compare the ordinal position of a specific object in two different given sequences (e.g., compare the adult stage in a variety of animal life cycles – 8th, 4th)
     

Extending the Learning

If your students are interested in learning more, the following may provoke their curiosity:

  • What similarities and differences do you find between the human life cycle and any of the animal life cycles that you investigated?
  • How do different animal parents care for their offspring throughout their life cycles?
  • How does the life cycle of a plant compare to some of the animal life cycles you have explored? Visit the Tomatosphere™ website for a backgrounder about the life cycle of a tomato plant.
Human baby
Human baby (Source: jessicaerichsenkent via Pixabay).
Koala mother and infant
Koala mother and infant (Source: Holger Detje via Pixabay).
Plant seedling
Plant seedling (Source: Rommel Diaz via Pixabay).

 

Supporting Media

Cover of What Will Hatch by Jennifer Ward
Cover of What Will Hatch by Jennifer Ward (Source: Let's Talk Science)

What Will Hatch?
by Jennifer Ward
What is more exciting than waiting for an egg to hatch? From a squiggly tadpole to fuzzy robin to a leathery platypus, this book shows eight different animals as they begin life.
ISBN: 9780802723116

Cover of An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston
Cover of An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston (Source: Open Library).

An Egg is Quiet
By Dianna Hutts Aston
Featuring poetic text and an elegant design, this book teaches children countless interesting facts about eggs.
ISBN 9780545054249

Cover of Leaps and Bounce by Susan Hood
Cover of Leaps and Bounce by Susan Hood (Source: Susanhoodbooks.com).

Leaps and Bounce
By Susan Hood
Change comes to all who grow. Even tiny tadpoles. Follow them as they start out as small, rounded eggs, and then sprout wiggly tails, before leaping their way into the big wide world!
ISBN 978-1423152347

 

Learn More

Plant Life Cycle (Lessons)

Students develop and apply the skills of observing, comparing & contrasting, and communicating as they explore life cycles of familiar plants.

Plant Reproduction (Backgrounders) 

Learn about sexual and asexual reproduction in plants.

The Life Cycle of a Tomato Plant (Backgrounders) 

Backgrounder outlining the life cycle of a tomato plant.

Related Topics

Animal Growth
Animal Life Cycles
Animals