ANIMAL LIFE CYCLES

Diane E. Althouse, Notre Dame, Vacaville, CA

Appropriate for grades 3-8.

OVERVIEW:  Almost every elementary school child has had the
opportunity to directly observe the stages in the life of a plant
or an animal.  Since most children have seen a puppy or kitten
turn into the adult dog or cat it was destined to become, this
unit focuses on the diversity in change around us.  To the young
student, these observations are often like pieces of a jigsaw
puzzle, somewhat interesting as individual bits of information,
but difficult to assemble into a coherent picture.  With
instruction, the pieces are brought together.  The study of the
life cycles of different species helps put into perspective many
aspects of human development, a topic that is often the subject of
youthful curiosity.  The connections are made between various real
life experiences and, more often than not, the result is
enthusiastic understanding.

PURPOSE:  This is a unit in the LIFE SCIENCES.  By doing these
activities, students will learn that all living things are born,
grow and change; consume water and food, and die.  This process is
commonly known as the LIFE CYCLE.  Hands-on experiences as well as
creative writing, art-related and cognitive activities are used to
demonstrate the beauty and complexity of the transitions all of
life must go through.

OBJECTIVES:  The students will be able to:

 1.  Compare and contrast the life cycles of different species.

 2.  Recognize a similarity in the basic needs of all living
     organisms and how they effect their own environment.

 3.  Evaluate their relationship with other forms of life and the
     need to preserve them.

ACTIVITIES:  Activities for an animal life cycles unit are diverse
and just about endless.  Be creative and open.  Work in groups and
as individuals.  Study together in the classroom and explore the
great outdoors.  Study books and bring in the experts.  Most
living specimens may be either purchased locally at pet shops,
school biological supply companies or captured outdoors.  Journals
or other record keeping devices should be used which include life
cycle charts, descriptions and measurements where appropriate. 
Here are a few activities to get you rolling....

THE LIFE CYCLE IN REALITY/HANDS ON EXPERIENCES:

 1.  Set up an aquarium for raising brine shrimp (sea monkeys).
     Brine shrimp are related to crabs and lobsters in a group
     commonly known as crustaceans.

 2.  For each student or study group, place two or three mealworms
     in a capped jar.  Provide the mealworms with bran and a slice
     of raw potato or apple.  The mealworm is the larva stage of a
     beetle.  Before reaching this final step in the
     metamorphosis, the mealworm goes through a pupa stage that
     resembles neither the "worm" or "beetle" developmental
     periods.

 3.  Fertilized frog eggs are usually easy to find or purchase.
     Place them in an aquarium and observe each day.  Tadpoles
     hatch from frog eggs in a week to ten days and the process
     from tadpole to frog is fascinating to observe.

 4.  Incubate fertilized chicken eggs.  The period of incubation
     for chicks is twenty one days.  Hold the eggs to your ears
     periodically.  Days before hatching you will be able to hear
     the chicks peeping inside.  Some teachers will open an egg
     every day or so, to show the developing embryo in various
     stages of growth.  The age of the students and the guidelines
     set by local animal rights organizations must be a
     consideration.  The baby chicks should also be given a proper
     home shortly after birth.

 5.  Keep open the possibility of real-life experiences that may
     occur close to home.  Thanks to the great accessibility of
     video camera equipment, someone might be able to record the
     live birth of an organism such as a kitten, calf or if you
     are really lucky, the birth of a human baby.  Once again,
     make sure the material is appropriate for the age group and
     parental permission is advised.

Retrieved from http://www.col-ed.org/cur/sci/sci15.txt on April 24, 2008.