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Backyard Explorer 3 to 5 / Week 09 / Explorer Day
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Week 09 · Life Cycles

Explorer Day

Explorer Day: Life-Stage Hunt
// Birth, growth, reproduction and death, in four very different lives
⏱ about 15 min

Explorer Day: Life-Stage Hunt

Rocket draws a grid in the field notebook: egg, young, grown, seed.

"Life-stage bingo!" he says. "First one to fill a row wins."

Raven shakes her head, smiling. "Nobody wins. We all just look."

Nova hovers over the grid. "Young things hide," she hints. "Look low, look under, look close."

Rocket grins and heads for the hedge at the edge of the park.

  1. Every living thing is born, grows, reproduces and dies. That is a life cycle.
  2. A bird hatches from an egg, grows feathers, fledges and lays its own eggs.
  3. A butterfly goes egg, larva, pupa, adult. A grasshopper skips the pupa.
  4. A plant goes seed, seedling, grown plant, flower, and back to seed.
  5. A frog goes egg, tadpole, froglet, adult, from water to land.
◇ EXPLORER DAY: A LIFE-STAGE HUNT
Make a grid with four boxes in your notebook. Label them egg or seed, young, grown, and reproduction.
Walk your yard or park together for twenty minutes.
Look for a seed, a seedling, a grown plant and a flower. Sketch each in its box.
Look for a young animal and a grown one. A small bird and a large one count.
Look low, under leaves and along edges. That is where young things hide.
Back home, pick one living thing you found. Draw its whole life cycle.
Safety first
Never touch a nest, an egg, a caterpillar, a tadpole or a frog.
Some insects sting and some plants itch. Look with your eyes only.
Stay back from water and stay with your grown-up the whole time.
Wash your hands when you get home.
For a grown-up
Seeds and seedlings are the easiest stages to find. Start there.
Ask: how do you know this one is young? What is your evidence?
If you find a nest or eggs, admire from a distance and move on.
LIFE-STAGE HUNT CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
You find a small plant with two leaves. Which stage is it?
You see a frog with four legs and a short tail. Which stage is it?
Which stage do all four living things end with?
WHY THIS EXERCISEEvery life ends in death, and the young carry the cycle on.

Hunt complete, explorer! Next week we read the field guide months to learn about seasons and migration.

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