With these sites students will learn that all living things are born, grow and change; consume water and food, and die.
I have gathered hands-on experiences as well as creative writing, art-related... cognitive activities which are used to demonstrate the beauty and complexity of the transitions all of life must go through.
OBJECTIVES: The students will be able to:
1. Compare and contrast the life cycles of different species.
2. Recognize a similarity in the basic needs of all living
organisms and how they effect their own environment.
3. Evaluate their relationship with other forms of life and the
need to preserve them.
Life cycles sites on the web are diverse and just about endless. Be creative and open. Work in groups and as individuals. Study together in the classroom and explore the great outdoors. Study books and bring in the experts. Most living specimens may be either purchased locally at petshops,
school biological supply companies or captured outdoors. Journals
or other record keeping devices should be used which include life
cycle charts, descriptions and measurements where appropriate.
Here are a few activities to get you rolling....
THE LIFE CYCLE IN REALITY/HANDS ON EXPERIENCES:
1. Set up an aquarium for raising brine shrimp (sea monkeys).
Brine shrimp are related to crabs and lobsters in a group
commonly known as crustaceans.
2. For each student or study group, place two or three mealworms
in a capped jar. Provide the mealworms with bran and a slice
of raw potato or apple. The mealworm is the larva stage of a
beetle. Before reaching this final step in the
metamorphosis, the mealworm goes through a pupa stage that
resembles neither the "worm" or "beetle" developmental
periods.
3. Fertilized frog eggs are usually easy to find or purchase.
Place them in an aquarium and observe each day. Tadpoles
hatch from frog eggs in a week to ten days and the process
from tadpole to frog is fascinating to observe.
4. Incubate fertilized chicken eggs. The period of incubation
for chicks is twenty one days. Hold the eggs to your ears
periodically. Days before hatching you will be able to hear
the chicks peeping inside. Some teachers will open an egg
every day or so, to show the developing embryo in various
stages of growth. The age of the students and the guidelines
set by local animal rights organizations must be a
consideration. The baby chicks should also be given a proper
home shortly after birth.
5. Keep open the possibility of real-life experiences that may
occur close to home. Thanks to the great accessibility of
video camera equipment, someone might be able to record the
live birth of an organism such as a kitten, calf or if you
are really lucky, the birth of a human baby. Once again,
make sure the material is appropriate for the age group and
parental permission is advised.
ART/ART-RELATED ACTIVITIES: All children are different and have
varied talents. A unit should include as many aspects of
creativity and learning as possible. These projects would focus
on the child expressing himself/herself in an artistic manner.
Some suggestions are making a set of animal identification cards,
designing a life cycles mural, creating posters, making slides and
overhead transparencies etc.
