Content Area:
Unit Plan Title:
Life Science
Grade(s)
1
Introduction to Life Cycle
Overview of Unit
Students will identify the basic needs of living things and how they use their structures to satisfy their needs. They
will also explore the life cycles of a variety of animals.
Essential Question(s) and Enduring Understandings (in grade appropriate terminology).
1. How do animals develop from an egg to an adult?
 Living things have predictable life cycles.
 Life on Earth is complex, diverse, and interconnected.
2. How do organisms survive and reproduce successfully?
 Living things need water and nourishment.
 Living things depend on their environment to survive.
 Living things use their specialized structures to succeed.
 Living things develop in predictable patterns.
Revised 12/04/11
Content Statements and CPIs
Content: Living organisms—
 Exchange nutrients and water with the environment.
 Reproduce.
 Grow and develop in a predictable manner.
5.3.2.A.1 Group living and nonliving things according to the characteristics that they share.
Content: A source of energy is needed for all organisms to stay alive and grow. Both plants and animals need to take
in water, and animals need to take in food. Plants need light.
5.3.2.B.1 Describe the requirements for the care of plants and animals related to meeting their energy needs.
Content: A habitat supports the growth of many different plants and animals by meeting their basic needs of food,
water, and shelter.
5.3.2.C.2 Identify the characteristics of a habitat that enable the habitat to support the growth of many different plants
and animals.
Content: Organisms have predictable characteristics at different stages of development.
5.3.2.D.2 Determine the characteristic changes that occur during the life cycle of plants and animals by examining a
variety of species, and distinguish between growth and development.
Revised 12/04/11
Student Learning Targets/Objectives
Students will be able to:
1. Observe, record, and compare different animals in the ways they look, grow, and move.
2. Observe, record, study, and discuss the life cycles of selected animals.
3. Identify the body parts, and describe the related functions, of selected animals.
4. Compare/contrast selected animals’ characteristics and life cycles.
5. Identify the basic needs of animals (air, water, food, shelter, space).
Strategies/Justifications

KWDLAQ - Identifies what students know about selected animals, and lays a foundation for specialized
knowledge about these animals.

Observations and recording their thinking through drawing and simplistic labeling enables students to start
asking questions about how animals live and what role they play in an ecosystem.

Recording observations helps students clarify their own thinking, identify weaknesses, and document progress.

Comparing and contrasting different animals helps students grasp the diversity of organisms, and the multiple
ways in which species interact.

Observing animals in different stages of life creates a concrete experience that enables students to think about
life cycles and timeframes for living species.

Comparing the structure and behavior of a variety of animals enables students to understand the diversity of
life on our planet.

Classifying helps students focus on how scientists organize information into frameworks and model thinking
patterns.
Revised 12/04/11
Teaching Points, Activities, and Assessments
Teaching Point #1
Scientists think about what they already know about a topic.
Create the “KW” of the KWDLAQ on what the students know about animals and their
lifecycles.
Time Frame
30 minutes
Share trade books about animals and allow children time to explore and share (e.g., Clara
the Caterpillar, Little Duck Checks It Out, Turtle Girl, White Owl, Barn Owl, Puffling,
Without You, Old Mother Bear)
*Teacher Note: KWDLAQ - What We Think We Know, What We Want to Find Out, What
We Will Do, What We Learned, How We Can Apply, What Questions We Still Have.
Teaching Point #2
All living things have basic needs that must be met in order to survive (food, water, air,
shelter, space).
Have students make a list in their science notebooks of what they think living things need to
survive. Show video clips; then, have students go back to their lists and see if they want to
add or change what they wrote. Students should then draw pictures of real or imaginary
pets eating, drinking, breathing, and taking shelter.
30 minutes
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.colt.lp_stayalive/
Teaching Point #3
Scientists observe and record observations of living things in order to learn more about their
behavior and what they need to survive.
Introduce students to the first selected insect/animal (see resources for list of choices).
Identify what the insect/animal is, and have students sketch it before allowing them to
observe it. After the students have had time to observe, have them sketch what it looks like
again, and share the differences between the two sketches.
Discuss what the animal needs to survive and what its natural habitat is. Introduce the
animal’s life cycle (see resources section for literary and multimedia resource list).
*Teacher Note: For six lessons, the three different organisms you select should have
different lifecycle patterns, and should not be repeat organisms from what was studied in
your school’s Kindergarten.
Revised 12/04/11
2/30 minute periods
Teaching Point #4
Scientists observe and record observations of living things in order to learn more about their
behavior and what they need to survive.
Introduce students to the second selected insect/animal (see resources for list of choices).
Identify what the insect/animal is, and have students sketch it before allowing them to
observe it. After the students have had time to observe, have them sketch what it looks like
again, and share the differences between the two sketches.
2/30 minute periods
Discuss what the animal needs to survive and what its natural habitat is. Introduce the
animal’s life cycle (see resources section for literary and multimedia resource list).
Teaching Point #5
Scientists observe and record observations of living things in order to learn more about their
behavior and what they need to survive.
Introduce students to the third selected insect/animal (see resources for list of choices).
Identify what the insect/animal is, and have students sketch it before allowing them to
observe it. After the students have had time to observe, have them sketch what it looks like
again, and share the differences between the two sketches.
2/30 minute periods
Discuss what the animal needs to survive and what its natural habitat is. Introduce the
animal’s life cycle (see resources section for literary and multimedia resource list).
Teaching Point #6
Different animals have different life cycles.
Compare and contrast the three different insect/animal lifecycles that were previously
studied. Chart comparisons. Identify the “L” and the “Q” of the KWDLAQ.
Teaching Point #7
Animals have different body parts that function to help the animals survive.
30 minutes.
2/30 minute periods
Have students review previous drawings of the selected animals and label their body parts.
In partners, speculate the functions of each body for the selected animals. Discuss the
functions of each body part with the class.
Teaching Point #8
There are characteristics that all animals have in common (they move, breathe, reproduce,
feed, seek shelter, etc.).
As a class, chart the characteristics that all animals share.
30 minutes
Benchmark Assessment
Present students with an animal and its lifecycle that they have not already studied. Life
cycle stages should be on separate cards for students to arrange in sequential order. After
sequencing, have students indicate what pattern of life cycle this represents based on the
previously studied animals.
30 minutes
Revised 12/04/11
Unit Resources

Foss Unit – Insects
http://www.cape.k12.mo.us/blanchard/hicks/Internet%20Pages/Bug%20World/Bug%20World.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/plants_animals_env.shtml



Animals (if teacher wants to use animal not on below list, he/she should see building principal)
o Butterflies
o Red worms
o Night crawlers
o Goldfish
o Guppies
o Aquatic snails
o Pill bugs
o Sow bugs
o Land snails
o Pond snails
o Chickens
o Ducks
o Bess Beetles
o Ladybugs
Chart Paper
Composition books for Science Notebooks


Hand Lenses
The Pillbug Project (GEMS unit)
Revised 12/04/11

Trade Books:
Butterflies by Nic Bishop
The Pill Bug Project
Clara the Caterpillar by Pamela Duncan Edwards
Little Duck Checks It Out by Grey Armstrong and Nicki Wise
Turtle Girl by Carole Crowe
White Owl, Barn Owl by Nicola Davies and Michael Foreman
Puffling by Margaret Wild and Julie Vivas
Without You by SarahWeeks
Old Mother Bear by Victoria Miles
The Magic School Bus Science Chapter Book #16: Butterfly Battle By Nancy White
Science Vocabulary Readers Set: Life Cycles (Level 2) a Scholastic product
First Step Nonfiction: Animal Life Cycles Paperback
[set/series from Follett]
One Small Square Series by Donald M. Silver
Technological Resources
Technology to be integrated (tools, equipment, software, and online learning)

Videos: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/

DVD: All about animal life cycles by: Schlessinger Media p2002 c2000 (Follett)

ELMO

Flex Cam
Revised 12/04/11