Mammal life cycles
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the stages in the life cycle of different mammals.
Key learning points
- Mammals are animals, they are living things that grow and reproduce
- Life cycles of different mammals can be observed over time and/or researched using secondary sources of information
- Scientific diagrams are used to show the stages in a mammal’s life cycle
- Mammals are born alive from their mother
- The stages of a mammal’s life cycle are baby, young and adult
Keywords
Mammal - A mammal is a warm-blooded animal that gives birth to live young and has hair or fur.
Life cycle - A life cycle is the way in which a living thing changes as it ages.
Secondary sources - Secondary sources are texts, images or objects created using information gathered by others.
Research - To research something is to find out about it or investigate it carefully.
Common misconception
Pupils may think that humans are not animals, but something different.
When mammals are discussed in the lesson, remind pupils that humans are animals and mammals because of their shared characteristics.
Teacher tip
Encourage children to research an animal that they are personally interested them and give them opportunities to share their findings and interesting facts with their peers.
Equipment
Non-fiction texts about mammal life cycles and/or access to the internet for research.
Content guidance
Risk assessment required - equipment
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is an animal?
Q2.Mammals have backbones. This means they belong to a group of animals called .
Q3.Which of these animals is not a mammal?
Q4.Which of these words means a fully-grown animal?
Q5.What is a life cycle?
Q6.Which of these is not true of mammals?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these statements about humans is false?
Q2.How many stages are there in the mammal life cycle?
Q3.Which of these is not part of the mammal life cycle?
Q4.A fully grown mammal is called an .
Q5.Starting with the youngest, put the stages of the mammal life cycle in order.
Q6.Which of these would not help us to learn about animal life cycles?
To help you plan your 5 science lesson on: Mammal life cycles, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 5 science lesson on: Mammal life cycles, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 science lessons from the Reproduction and life cycles: animals unit, dive into the full primary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.