Animal Growth and Life Cycle

Science 8.04 DBA/Review -

Animal Life

It's a Wonderful Life

Every animal on Earth has a life cycle. Certain groups of animals, however, follow similar paths as they grow and change.  

Horses, cats, and even humans have life cycles that follow a similar path. The same is true for birds, snakes, and crocodiles. Insects also have very similar life cycles. They will either go through complete or incomplete metamorphosis. 

And to think, every animal starts out as a teeny, tiny egg.

Multiple Choice

The stages of growth for all organisms:

• Life Cycle

• Pupa

• Nymph

• Metamorphosis

Amphibian Life Cycle

Animals that start their life with gills and typically develop lungs as adults are known as amphibians.

These animals often start their life in the water and grow lungs, which allow them to survive outside of the water.

Some examples of amphibians are frogs and salamanders.

How does a tadpole compare to an adult frog?

Tadpoles

-have gills to breath under water

-have tails & fins to help them swim

-have keratin like teeth called denticles

-live in water only

-have a two chambered heart

-are herbivores

-have a soft cartilage-like skull

Frogs

Frogs have lungs to aid breathing under water

Frogs have fore limbs (arms) and hind limbs (legs) to help them swim

Frogs have tiny teeth on the upper and lower jaws

Frogs live in both water and on land

Frogs have a three chambered heart

Frogs are carnivores

Frogs have a well-developed hardened skull

Reptile Life Cycle

Reptiles breathe using lungs, even when they are born!

Reptiles rely on heat from their surroundings to warm up. This means they are cold-blooded.

Most reptiles hatch from an egg when they are born.

Animals like snakes, turtles, lizards, and alligators are reptiles.

Reptile Life Cycle

This is an example of an alligator life cycle. Observe the pictures of the alligator a differnet staes of life.

What changes do youj notice?

Multiple Choice

A turtle has laid its fertilized eggs in the sand. What stage of the life cycle will come next?

• Adolescent

• Adult

• Egg

• Juvenile

Life Cycle of a Bird

Some animals go through changes and grow in different ways. They start small and grow bigger over time. Below is an example of how a chicken grows and changes. It starts as an egg, hatches and becomes a baby chick, then grows to an adult.

What changes do you notice as the chicken grows?

Life Cycle of a Fish

Fish live in both freshwater and saltwater. They have the same stages as many other living things. They start small and grow larger.

A newly hatched fish is called a fry. Baby fish look like adult fish, just a lot smaller. they breathe from their gills, have fins and a tail.

Mammal LIfe Cycle

Mammals give birth to baby animals that look like small adults. As the babies grow, they change size. Other changes might be color, shape, or type of covering.

Multiple Choice

Your pet dog just had puppies. What stage of the life cycle are the puppies in?

• Adolescent

• Egg

• Infant

Life cycles

Every creature on Earth lives their life differently, but they have an amazing amount in common - they are all part of a life cycle. Some animals will hatch, and some animals will be born, but animals grow and develop in many different ways. Some animals grow legs after birth, while other animals look like a smaller version of an adult.

Multiple Choice

A newborn or hatchling is called:

• adult

• infant

• adolescent

Multiple Choice

A full-grown, mature animal is called:

• infant

• adult

• adolescent

Multiple Choice

The animal begins to learn about the world and how to survive...

• adult

• infant

• adolescent

It's a Bug's Life

Have you ever heard of a makeover? 

Insects go through an extreme makeover during their life cycle. It's called metamorphosis. 

It has four stages.

They get a completely new look, and some even grow wings. 

Egg, Larva, Pupa, Adult

Butterflies, ladybugs, and beetles are all examples of insects that go through complete metamorphosis and have four distinct stages. 

Butterfly Life Cycle

A butterfly starts its life as a tiny fertilized egg.

When it is ready, a caterpillar will hatch from the egg. This is the Larva stage.

The Pupa stage is when the caterpillar has grown large enough and stored enough energy, it will wrap itself up in a chrysalis, much like a tiny sleeping bag. 

Adult stage is when the metamorphosis is complete.

Ladybug Life Cycle

The egg comes from a female ladybug. 

Larva -  It will grow and shed its skin a few times.

The larva will build a pupa around itself and start the process of metamorphosis.

Adult - When the process is complete, a ladybug will emerge from the cocoon with its famous red spotted shell that covers its brand new wings.

Multiple Choice

What is the event where the biggest changes happen to change a young insect to an adult?

• development

• growth

• metamorphosis

• transformation

Multiple Choice

Which of the following animals would you expect metamorphosis to occur in?

• alligator

• butterfly

• chicken

• dog

Pupa Stage

Multiple Choice

During complete metamorphosis, what best describes the transformation from a larva to a pupa?

• The larva goes through a big change in color.

• The larva might form a cocoon or a chrysalis.

• The larva might hatch into an adult.

• The larva sheds its skin several times.

Multiple Choice

The life cycle stage where the biggest changes take place. The insect bundles itself up for metamorphosis to happen.

• egg

• larva

• pupa

• adult

Multiple Choice

The first stage of every animal life cycle.

• egg

• larva

• pupa

• adult

Multiple Choice

What would you call a baby insect, when the insect looks more like a worm than the adult at this stage.

• egg

• larva

• pupa

• adult

Multiple Choice

This is what many insects wrap themselves in for their metamorphosis.

• chrysalis

• larva

• egg

• adult

Chrysalis vs Cocoon

Are you wondering what the difference between a cocoon and a chrysalis is?  

Both are formed during the pupal stage. Only butterflies form a chrysalis, which is a hardened shell of skin. Moths and some other insects form cocoons out of silk.

Adult Stage

Incomplete Metamorphosi

Not all insects go through complete metamorphosis. Some go through only three stages instead of four. This is called incomplete metamorphosis.

Egg

This cycle still begins with an egg

Nymph

The young insect is called a nymph and looks similar to the adult stage, but smaller. The nymph will grow and molt its exoskeleton to get bigger, but will keep the same look.

Adult

When the nymph matures, it enters the adult stage. Eventually it may reproduce and its offspring will start a new life cycle!

The life cycles of these three insects (grasshopper, praying mantis, and dragonfly) are all very similar, but they are very different from those who go through complete metamorphosis.

Grasshopper

When a grasshopper egg hatches, a baby grasshopper, called a nymph, comes out and begins to grow. It already looks like a grasshopper, but it will molt its exoskeleton many times before becoming a full-grown adult grasshopper.

Praying Mantis

From an egg, a nymph will hatch, and it will look like a tiny praying mantis with some minor differences. As the nymph grows, it will molt its exoskeleton several times until it has grown into an adult praying mantis.

Dragonfly

Dragonflies hatch from eggs underwater, and the nymphs that hatch from those eggs will live underwater until they have become adults. The nymph will crawl up the stem of a plant and will molt its exoskeleton for the final time, growing wings so that it can fly and hunt.

Differences - The ladybug has a complete metamorphosis(egg-larva-pupa-adult) and the grasshopper has an incomplete metamorphosis(egg-nymph-adult).

Similarities - Both metamorphosis start with an egg and end as an adult.

Multiple Choice

Which stage is not part of the incomplete metamorphosis life cycle?

• egg

• adult

• pupa

• nymph

Multiple Choice

In which life cycle stage does the most drastic change happen?

• adult

• egg

• larva

• pupa

Multiple Choice

They hatch from eggs and look very similar to the adults...

• adult

• nymph

• larva

• pupa