Kylee

Williams
ED 418: Teaching Science P-6
March 19, 2017

Lesson 1: Introduction to Life Cycles

Unit:
Life Cycles

Grade Level/Duration:
3rd Grade

Unit Objective:
Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of various life cycles, including
animal and plants.

Lesson Objectives:
After an introduction to life cycles, students will assemble a flipbook about the life
cycle of an animal of choice.

Colorado P-6 Academic Standards:
Content Area: Science
Grade Level Expectations: Third Grade
Standard: 2. Life Science

1. The duration and timing of life cycle events such as reproduction and
longevity vary across organisms and species

Students Can:
a. Use evidence to develop a scientific explanation regarding the stages of how
organisms develop and change over time (DOK 1-3)
b. Analyze and interpret data to generate evidence that different organisms develop
differently over time (DOK 1-2)
c. Use a variety of media to collect and analyze data regarding how organisms
develop (DOK 1-2)

Materials:
- Animal pictures: plant (dandelion) insect (cicada) and mammal (bear)
- Lined paper (optional)
- Pencils
- Document camera
- Projector
- Vocabulary Booklets (20)



Engage:
As part of a pre assessment, the teacher will post on the document camera three
pictures of three organisms: A Plant, An Insect, and A Mammal. Teacher will ask
What do you think these three organisms look like when theyre young? Teacher
will then write down student responses to see if there is a pattern among student
knowledge.

Explore:
After demonstrating how to fold the flipbook, what the expectations of the book are,
and how to draw out information from an informative text, students are free to
create their flipbooks in ways that make sense to them.

Explain:
Prior to exploration, the teacher will discuss with students the different life cycles:
Simple Life Cycle (birth/egg, pup/chick, adult); Complete Metamorphosis (egg,
larva, pupa, and adult life cycle); and Incomplete metamorphosis (egg, nymph,
adult).

Teacher will then model how the vocabulary booklet would be filled out and how
the purpose of the booklet is to assist in a research project near the end of the unit.

Vocabulary:
Life Cycle
Simple Life Cycle
Metamorphosis
Complete Metamorphosis
Incomplete Metamorphosis
Egg
Nymph
Adult
Seed
Seedling

Elaboration:
Teachers will give students time to begin work on the vocabulary booklet.

Evaluation:
The assessment of student understanding and application of knowledge will be
demonstrated in the flipbooks that they create.



Accommodations or modifications (fill out in case you teach in field study; if
not, then perhaps just a few suggestions in preparation):
The booklet is an ongoing project throughout the life cycle unit. This may be
attributed to the amount of time for explanation and to complete a product.

Resources:
Pre-assessment photos:
Bear: https://www.shutterstock.com/search/bear
Life Cycle: http://www.kidzone.ws/lw/bears/ws11.htm

Cicada: http://songsofinsects.com/cicadas/periodical-cicada
Life Cycle: http://www.supercoloring.com/coloring-pages/life-cycle-of-a-cicada

Dandelion: http://ecocarblog.com/continental-muestra-primer-neumatico-
fabricado-con-diente-de-leon/
Life Cycle: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/life-cycle-dandelion-
353589899


 Unit Vocabulary Booklet

Cover Inside Cover for Vocabulary list

Inside of booklet: For each vocabulary word, ask students to draw a picture for the
word, write the word in a sentence, and to find synonyms and antonyms.








A section for drawing vocabulary from informational text.