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Science

Life Cycles

Overview

Children explore the life cycle of a familiar animal, placing the stages in order and connecting them to a circular pattern.

Learning Objective
Children understand that living things go through stages of growth and change and can sequence a simple life cycle.

Resources needed

  • None — or pictures of stages if available

Lesson stages

0 / 7 done
  1. 1 Ask: were you always the size you are now? What were you before?
  2. 2 Introduce the idea that all living things change as they grow.
  3. 3 Describe the life cycle of a frog or butterfly — both are dramatic and easy to visualise.
  4. 4 Ask children to place the stages in order: egg, larva or tadpole, adult.
  5. 5 Draw the cycle as a circle — show that the adult produces eggs and the cycle starts again.
  6. 6 Ask: why is it called a cycle? What makes it circular?
  7. 7 Ask: what would happen if one stage was missing?

Tap a step to mark it as done.

Variations

  • Compare the life cycle of a butterfly and a frog — what is similar, what is different?
  • Include the human life cycle — baby, child, adult, old age.
  • Observe a real life cycle: plant a seed and track it over weeks.
More information

Teach: life cycle, stage, egg, larva, pupa, adult, hatch, grow, reproduce. The circular diagram is the key visual — draw it clearly and have children copy it.

Use the plant life cycle — seed, seedling, plant, flower, seed — as it is simpler and can be directly observed.

Can children sequence the stages of a life cycle correctly? Can they explain why the cycle is circular rather than linear?

Draw the cycle in soil. Find real examples outside — tadpoles in a puddle, caterpillars on leaves, seeds on plants. No printed materials needed.

Children sometimes think only animals have life cycles. Establish that plants also have life cycles — cycles are a pattern found across all living things.

Life cycles introduce the concept of biological reproduction and intergenerational continuity. The circular structure is an important contrast to the linear timelines used in history.

Activity details
Primary Easy 20–25 minutes no prep Whole Class, Small Group Indoor & Outdoor
Topics
Life Cycles Living Things Change Over Time