Every living thing has a life cycle!

This complete unit plan , "Birth, Growth, and Development", compares life cycles of insects, mammals, amphibians, and plants.  Videos, still photos, background essays for the teacher, discussion questions, and correlations to your state's standards are included. Through the videos and still photos, students receive input that allows them to compare the life cycles of various living things. (Note: A video of live birth is included for manatees and goats, which some teachers may choose to skip.)

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives: 

Objectives:

  • Understand that all animals (including humans) have a life cycle that includes being born, developing into an adult, reproducing, and eventually dying
  • Observe the changes that occur during the growth and development of humans
  • Understand that the developmental stages of life vary from one species to another
Essential and guiding questions: 

Questions:

  • What was similar about the births of the chick and the turtle? 
  • What was similar about the births of the goat and seal? 
  • For which animals was the mother present at birth?
  • The birth of human babies is similar to that of which group of animals?
  • In what ways did the newborns resemble their parents?
  • What similarities do you notice in the shape of the infants' heads and in their facial features?
  • What differences do you notice?
  • How did the shape of the girl's head, eyes, nose, and mouth change as she grew older?
  • What other kinds of physical changes occur as newborns grow?
  • How does body size change?
  • Why do you think babies aren't born bigger than they are?
  • If we assume that you were all 20 inches long at birth, how much have you grown since then?
  • What kinds of things can affect how tall you'll be when you're fully grown? (Examples: heredity, nutrition)
  • At what age do girls and boys typically reach their adult height? (early teens for girls, late teens for boys)
  • Point out that all living things, not just humans, grow and change as they go through life. Ask students for examples of growth and change in other animals.
  • In what stage(s) do we accomplish each of these developmental milestones: learning to talk, learning to walk, learning to ride a bike, learning to read, going to high school, going to college, getting married, having children, and retiring from work (add others of your choosing)?
  • How old do most people in the United States live to be?
  • In which seasons were the babies born? How can you tell?
  • Why is it important for them to be born at this time?
  • At just a few months old, what were the baby ducks already capable of doing? What about the baby foxes?
  • At what age do humans learn to swim? feed themselves? get their own food? go off to live on their own?
  • How are the life cycles of animal babies different from the human life cycle? How are they similar?

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Understanding

Helpful Hints

Materials:

  • Large sheet of paper on which to draw a bar graph
  • Marker
  • Tape measure
  • Post-it Notes

Optional: Baby or toddler photos of students in the class

References

Contributors: