Lesson Plan: Animal Life Cycles

Grade: Primary 3 (ages 7-8)

Objectives: 1. All students will be able to identify and describe the life cycle of at least one animal. 2. Most students will be able to compare and contrast the life cycles of different animals. 3. Some students will be able to explain how environmental factors can affect an animal’s life cycle.

Starter: Show students pictures of different animals and ask them to identify the animals. Then, ask them if they know how these animals grow and change over time.

Cross-Curricular Link: This lesson plan integrates Science, English Language Arts, and Art.

Introduction: Explain to the students that all animals go through a life cycle, just like humans do. Tell them that a life cycle is the series of changes an animal goes through from birth to adulthood. Show them a visual representation of a life cycle, such as a butterfly life cycle poster.

Lesson Outline: 1. Introduce the concept of life cycles and explain that animals have different life cycles. 2. Discuss the stages of a life cycle: birth/hatching, growth, reproduction, and death. 3. Show examples of different animal life cycles, such as butterflies, frogs, and birds. Use videos and pictures to engage the students. 4. Differentiated Activity 1: Provide worksheets with pictures of different animals and their life cycle stages. Students will match the animals with their correct life cycle stages. 5. Differentiated Activity 2: Divide the students into small groups and assign each group a different animal. Provide resources such as books, videos, and websites for research. Each group will create a poster or a short presentation about their assigned animal’s life cycle. 6. Differentiated Activity 3: For advanced students, provide a worksheet with questions about how environmental factors can affect an animal’s life cycle. Students will research and write short answers to the questions. 7. Assessment: Give each student a blank piece of paper and ask them to draw and label the life cycle of an animal of their choice. This will assess their understanding of the concept. 8. Plenary: Ask a few students to share their drawings and explain the life cycle of the animal they chose. Summarize the main points of the lesson and answer any remaining questions.

Video Resources: 1. “Butterfly Life Cycle” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6wPif6YzTk 2. “Frog Life Cycle” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6xfWevQqZw 3. “Bird Life Cycle” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a9X8v6XZ9k

Worksheet Resources: 1. Animal Life Cycle Matching Worksheet - [link to worksheet] 2. Animal Life Cycle Research Worksheet - [link to worksheet] 3. Environmental Factors and Animal Life Cycles Worksheet - [link to worksheet]