How do animals grow?
All animals are at a stage in their lifecycle. Don't forget that humans are animals too!
Watch: What is a lifecycle?
All animals go through the same important stages during their lifetime.
What is the lifecycle of an animal?
Humans and other animals may look very different and behave very differently.
But we all have one thing in common.
All animals, including humans are born, they get older and bigger and mostwill go on to have children of their own.
And these children will get older and may also have children, and so on.
We call this a life cycle.
As you grow older, how you look will change a lot.
And one of the most amazing changes in nature is the life cycle of the butterfly called…metamorphosis.
Me-ta-mor-pho-sis.
When a male and a female butterfly reproduce, the female lays eggs somewhere safe.
When these eggs hatch out, they become caterpillars.
This is called the larva stage.
It doesn't look much like a butterfly yet, does it?
Eventually the caterpillar builds a chrysalis around itself, a bit like a sleeping bag.
A few days or weeks later, it finally wakes up and breaks free…an adult butterfly at last!
It can fly away to reproduce and eggs of its own, continuing the cycle of life.
A baby is the first stage in the animal lifecycle. At this early stage, almost all babies need their parents to live.
Stages of a human lifecycle
Baby animals then grow into adults. This happens very quickly for animals like birds and rabbits. It happens more slowly for animals like humans and elephants.
An adult animal can have its own babies. Eventually, this animal will die and its lifecycle is complete.
Animal lifecycles
Butterflies change a lot during their lifecycle.
Activities
Test your knowledge of lifecycles with the activities below.
Activity 1: Ordering lifecycles
Activity 2: Lifecycles quiz
Activity 3: Drawing the lifecycles of different animals
You will need: A4 paper, coloured pencils or pens, pencil.
- Separate your piece of card into four squares with your pencil.
- In each square, draw a stage of the human lifecycle. Write a title, too!
Which stage of the lifecycle are you at?
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