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Week 09 · Life Cycles

Monday

Every living thing has a cycle
// Birth, growth, reproduction and death, in four very different lives
⏱ about 15 min

Monday: Every Living Thing Has a Cycle

Rocket holds up a photo of a tiny baby. "That is me! I had no teeth!"

Raven laughs. "Now you have teeth and glasses. What else changed?"

"Everything," says Rocket. "I grew. I will keep growing. Then what?"

Nova projects a cyan circle in the air. "Not a line," she hints. "Think about a shape that comes back around."

Rocket traces the circle with his finger.

Frog eggs, tadpoles and a chrysalis by the pond, with Rocket and Raven sketching.

Four stages every living thing shares

Think about a bird, a butterfly, a tree and a frog.

They look nothing alike. They live in different places and eat different things.

Yet all four share the same four stages of life.

First comes birth. A living thing hatches, sprouts or is born.

Next comes growth. The young living thing gets bigger and changes.

Then comes reproduction. The grown living thing makes new living things like itself.

Last comes death. Every living thing dies in the end.

Scientists call these stages a life cycle. It is a cycle because it repeats.

The young become adults. The adults make new young. Round and round it goes.

StageWhat it meansAn example
birtha new living thing beginsa chick hatches from an egg
growthit gets bigger and changesa seedling grows into a tree
reproductionit makes new living thingsa frog lays eggs
deathits life endsa leaf falls and a decomposer takes over
LIFE CYCLE CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
How many main stages are in every life cycle?
Which stage comes right after birth?
Why is it called a cycle?

Same stages, different lives

Every living thing has the four stages. But the details are very different.

A bird hatches from an egg. A plant sprouts from a seed. A frog starts as a tadpole.

Some living things change shape completely as they grow. Others just get bigger.

This week you will compare four life cycles side by side.

By Friday you will see what they share and how they differ.

The stages of life from birth to death are a life ____.
The stage when a living thing makes new living things is ____.
The stage when a young living thing gets bigger is ____.
StatementTrue or false?
Every living thing is born, grows, reproduces and dies.?
A life cycle is a straight line that never repeats.?
A bird and a tree share the same four life stages.?
Only animals have life cycles.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEPlants and animals all have life cycles, and cycles repeat.
A LIFE CYCLE IN ORDER
  • ?birth
  • ?growth
  • ?reproduction
  • ?death
WHY THIS EXERCISEBirth, growth, reproduction, then death. Then the young start it again.
What word means to make new living things of the same kind?
WHY THIS EXERCISEReproduction is how a life cycle keeps going after one life ends.
Try it
Look outside with a grown-up. Find one young living thing and one grown one.
A small plant and a tall one count. So do a small bird and a big one.
Say which stage you think each one is in.
Safety first
Look with your eyes. Never touch a wild animal, nest, egg or unknown plant.
Stay with your grown-up and wash your hands afterward.
Draw a circle with four parts. Label them birth, growth, reproduction and death.

Round and round, explorer! Tomorrow we follow a bird from egg to adult.