Life Cycles
An introduction and interactive assessment
about the life cycles of butterflies, frogs and
plants.
By Morgan Charbonnier
Standards
Florida Standards:
ISTE Standards:
Science
SC.2.L.16.1: Observe and describe major stages in
the life cycles of plants and animals, including
beans and butterflies.
SC.2.N.1.1: Raise questions about the natural
world, investigate them in teams through free
exploration and systematic observations, and
generate appropriate explanations based on those
explorations.
Visual Arts
VA.2.F.3.2: Work with peers to complete a task in
art.
English Language Arts
LAFS.2.L.1.1: Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English grammar and
usage when writing or speaking.
LAFS.2.W.3.8: Recall information from experiences
or gather information from provided sources to
answer a question.
1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and
Collaboration
3. Research and Information
Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem
Solving, and Decision Making
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and
Concepts
Life Cycles
A life cycle is a series of changes in form that
an organism undergoes which it returns to
the starting state.
The Life Cycle of a Butterfly
Stage one: Egg
A girl butterfly lays eggs on a
leaf really close together. The
eggs are really small and
round. About five days after
the eggs are laid, a tiny
worm-like creature will hatch
from the egg.
Stage three: Chrysalis
Once the caterpillar is done
growing it makes a chrysalis
which is mostly green or brown. It
is the same color as the things
around it such as trees, leaves or
branches so that other animals
cannot see it. This will protect it.
This is also the changing stage
where the caterpillar turns into a
butterfly inside the chrysalis.
Stage two: Caterpillar
A caterpillar is a long creature
with a striped or patched pattern.
It eats leaves and flowers, first it
eats the leaf that it was born on.
This is the eating and growing
stage, caterpillars grow fast
becoming too big for its own skin.
Therefore they will shed their skin
four or more times while growing.
Stage four: Butterfly
The chrysalis opens and the
butterfly comes out as an adult.
When it comes out its wings are
damp and folded to its body so it
rests to let its wings dry. After
resting, they work to flap their
wings and go look for a mate, soon
it will find a mate and lay eggs. The
life cycle will start all over again.
The Life Cycle of a Frog
Stage one: Egg
A female frog lays
many eggs at one
time. The eggs are
covered with a jellylike coating.
Stage three: Froglet
Over time, the tadpole
becomes more froglike.
The tadpole is growing
more froglike features
and the lungs are almost
functioning at this point.
Stage two: Tadpole
After a 21 day developmental period,
the embryo leaves its jelly shell and
attaches to a weed in the water. This
quickly becomes a tadpole which has
a long tail and lives in the water. After
about 5 weeks, the tadpole begins to
change and grow hind legs and are
soon followed by forelegs. Lungs
begin to develop preparing the frog
for life on land.
Stage four: Adult Frog
Eleven weeks after the egg was
laid, a fully developed frog with
lungs, legs and no tail emerges
from the water. The frog will live
mostly on land and occasionally
swim. Eventually it will find a
mate, the female will lay eggs, the
male will fertilize them and the
process will begin again.
Life Cycle of Plants
Stage one: Seed
The plant starts out as a seed
in the ground. The seed
sprouts and roots come out
when it is watered and the
seed coat gets moist.
Stage two: Seedling with root
The roots grow longer and the
stem pushes itself towards the
light.
Stage three: Seedling with leaf
The leaves form and soak in
sunlight and carbon dioxide and
produce food for itself through
photosynthesis. They need
sunshine and water to be able to
grow and mature.
Stage four: Adult plant
This is once a plant has reached its
full size. Then it will reproduce new
seeds. The seeds are then ready to
go away from the mother and
make other plants elsewhere.
There are many ways they do so.
For instance, the wind will scatter
the new seeds which will begin the
cycle over again.
Review
-Life cycle is a series of changes in form that an organism undergoes
which it returns to the starting state.
-Butterfly life cycle has four stages. The stages are the eggs, caterpillar,
chrysalis and butterfly.
-Frog life cycle has four stages too. The stages are the eggs, tadpole,
froglet and frog.
-Plant life cycle has four stages. The stages are seeds, seedling with
root, seedling with leaf, and the adult plant.
Quiz Time!
-Everyone get into your groups and you will be using
one clicker per group.
-I will read the question out loud, then you will have one
minute to discuss the answer with your group. Once you
have decided on an answer, click the letter on the clicker
that matches with the letter on the screen.
-Make sure to discuss quietly amongst yourselves so
that other groups cannot hear you. The group with the
most points at the end will receive 5 extra credit points
on the next quiz.
What is the second stage of a
butterflies life cycle?
A. Chrysalis
B. Caterpillar
C. Tadpole
D. Seedling
Which of the following go
through photosynthesis during
their life cycle?
A. Plants
B. Frogs
C. Butterflies
D. None of the above
Which of the following have four
stages in their life cycles?
A. Butterflies
B. Frogs
C. Plants
D. All of the above
Which organism undergoes changes
and returns to its starting state?
A. Butterflies
B. Plants
C. All of the above
D. None of the above
Which two life cycles start with an
egg stage?
A. Plants and frogs
B. Frogs and butterflies
C. Butterflies and plants
D. Only one cycle starts with an egg stage
Correct!
Sorry!
try again.
How did you do?
-If you answered 0-2 correctly, make sure to review the
material again. Try to make flash cards to familiarize
yourself with the information.
-If you answered 3-4 correctly, you did well! Make sure
to review the material, especially the information you
answered incorrectly.
-If you answered all 5 correctly, then that is excellent!
Review the material just to familiarize yourself with it
for the final project.