New
New
Year 2

Animal life cycles

I can make observations and describe how an animal grows and changes in its life cycle.

New
New
Year 2

Animal life cycles

I can make observations and describe how an animal grows and changes in its life cycle.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. All animals grow and change from birth to being an adult
  2. The journey of an animal from beginning until it is fully grown is called its life cycle
  3. Scientists can use observation skills to describe the stage an animal has reached in its life cycle

Keywords

  • Animal - An animal is a living thing which moves, and eats other animals or plants.

  • Offspring - You can refer to a person's child or to an animal's young as their offspring.

  • Adult - The adult is a mature form of a plant or animal.

  • Life cycle - A life cycle shows the way in which a living thing changes as it grows.

  • Observe - To observe is to look very closely and use other senses too.

Common misconception

Children may think that there are only two stages in an animal's life; child and adult.

Refer to other stages in animal's lives. For example, in humans we have children, teenagers, adults and the elderly.

Alternative lesson ideas are to look at time lapse videos to demonstrate life cycles, look at photos of life cycles, and use playdough to create and compare animals at different stages in their life cycles.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the offspring to their parent.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer:foal,horse

horse

Correct Answer:owlet,owl

owl

Correct Answer:cygnet,swan

swan

Q2.
True or false? Offspring always look like their parents.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: false, False, false.
Q3.
Which of these statements is true?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: Offspring change and grow into adult animals.
Offspring do not grow or change.
Offspring grow but do not change.
Q4.
Which of these groups only has animals that are offspring?
foal, horse, zebra
chick, penguin, hen
Correct answer: tadpole, kitten, hatchling
Q5.
Which of these groups only has animals that are adults?
caterpillar, butterfly, ladybird
Correct answer: horse, crocodile, owl
frog, tadpole, toad
Q6.
Izzy has some animal photos. She puts them into by looking at what is the same and what is different about them.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: groups, group

6 Questions

Q1.
From when they are born to when they become an adult, all animals...
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: grow and change
have offspring
stay the same
Q2.
The journey of an animal from beginning to when it is fully grown is called its...
An image in a quiz
offspring
Correct answer: life cycle
parent
Q3.
Which of these help us to observe more closely?
thermometer
Correct answer: magnifying glass
scissors
Q4.
Put these monkeys in order from youngest to oldest.
An image in a quiz
1 - newborn infant
2 - infant
3 - monkey
Q5.
When we observe this seal and its pup we notice that...
An image in a quiz
The pup is smaller and has darker fur. The seal is bigger and has white fur.
The pup is bigger and has white fur. The seal is smaller and has spotty fur.
Correct answer: The pup is smaller and has white fur. The seal is bigger and has spotty fur.
Q6.
Put these different stages of a butterfly's life cycle in order starting with the youngest.
An image in a quiz
1 - egg
2 - caterpillar
3 - chrysalis
4 - butterfly
Q2 UYSEG