Life+cycles

Complete Metamorphosis:
Learning Targets:
 * I can act out or describe the steps of complete metamorphosis.
 * I can correctly order the life cycle of a mealworm and waxworm.
 * I can explain what molting is.

Day 1:

 * 1) Introduce the learning targets and connect to the long-term targets of understanding complete and simple metamorphosis. Tell students they will get to discover the life cycles of mealworms and waxworms.
 * 2) In pairs they sketch a picture and write a word for each step of what they think are life cycles on a blank life cycle form. Each pair chooses whether to do mealworms or waxworms. Students may use the insects in the habitats as resources. [|blank life cycle observation sheet.doc]
 * 3) Pairs share with each other and compare their work.
 * 4) With large pictures of life cycles (from curriculum kit), have students put them in order on the floor or board to confirm their work. Act out complete metamorphosis with bodies:
 * egg: curl up in a ball
 * larva: stand up straight and wiggle
 * pupa: stand ramrod straight
 * adult: flap arms like wings
 * go back to egg
 * 1) Revisit learning target: are you making progress in achieving it?

Day 2:

 * Again act out with bodies. Be sure to use the word "complete metamorphosis." Talk about what happens each step.
 * Play the Cocktail Party Game with life cycles: each student gets 4 cards of one of the stages of the life cycle of a waxworm. They walk about and trade until they have a complete set of the four steps. Then they have to put their set in order on a desk, and share with a partner. They must tell their partner what happens in each step.

Day 3:

 * 1) Students cut out and complete sheets of the life cycles of waxworms. [|waxwormlifecycle.doc]
 * 2) Students should be able to describe what happens at each stage of the life cycle and use words such as molt and exoskeleton, as well as egg, larva, pupa, adult. They can share their work with a partner and get help to include those words if they need to.

In a week or so we will move on to simple metamorphosis, but we want to separate them so that they don't confuse the two types.

=Simple Metamorphosis=

Learning Targets:
 * I can act out or describe the steps of simple metamorphosis.
 * I can correctly order the life cycle of a milkweed bug.
 * I can explain the difference between simple and complete metamorphosis.

Day 1:
> STRESS that the babies look like the adults in simple metamorphosis.
 * 1) Review Complete Metamorphosis. Make a web and talk about which file it's in in your brain. Do the babies look like the adults? NO: in complete metamorphosis the babies look different from the adults.
 * 2) Introduce the learning targets and connect to the long-term targets of understanding complete and simple metamorphosis. Tell students they will get to discover the life cycles of milkweed bugs. How do they think they are different from mealworms and waxworms?
 * 3) In pairs they sketch a picture and write a word for each step of what they think are life cycles on a blank life cycle form. Students may use the insects in the habitats as resources. [|blank life cycle observation sheet.doc]
 * 4) Pairs share with each other and compare their work.
 * 5) With large pictures of life cycles (from curriculum kit), have students put them in order on the floor or board to confirm their work. Act out simple metamorphosis with bodies:
 * egg: curl up in a ball
 * nymph: straighten up a tiny bit
 * nymph: straighten up a little more
 * adult: stand all the way tall
 * go back to egg
 * 1) Revisit learning target: are you making progress in achieving it?

Day 2:

 * 1) Students cut out and complete sheets of the life cycles of milkweed bugs. [|milkweedbuglifecycle.doc]
 * 2) Students should be able to describe what happens at each stage of the life cycle and use words such as molt and exoskeleton, as well as egg, larva, pupa, adult. They can share their work with a partner and get help to include those words if they need to.

Subsequent days
Continue to review and practice both kinds of life cycles and what the differences are between them.

Prepare for the life cycle quiz.

Quiz on life cycles: [|lifecyclesquiz.doc]