Animal & Plant Life Cycles

Before Video

• A life cycle shows how living things grow and change over time.
  

• All life cycles include birth, growth, reproduction and death.
  

• Most plants start out as seeds.
  

• Some animals are born live, while others hatch from eggs.
  

After Video

• A life cycle is sometimes called the circle of life because animals and plants are born, grow into adults, reproduce and then die but their children then continue their own life cycle. The pattern repeats over and over again, sometimes for millions of years. Showing the pattern as a circle helps us see how it repeats.

• Metamorphosis is when a living thing changes form dramatically over the course of its life such as a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.
  

• Butterflies start their life cycle when they hatch from eggs as caterpillars. To become a butterfly, the caterpillar forms a chrysalis and undergoes metamorphosis where it changes dramatically into a butterfly.
  

• African Bullfrogs lay eggs in the water. In a few days, the eggs hatch and tadpoles emerge, swimming in the water. After about three weeks, the tadpoles begin to grow legs and lose their tails. As adults, they can live on land and in the water for about 20 years.
  

• A baby gorilla is born live after its mother is pregnant for about nine months. Babies spend their first 3-4 years with their parents. As they grow, they become “teenagers” until they are independent from their mothers at about 8-12 years. They eventually become adults and reproduce. Older gorillas may develop health problems and slow down.
  

• The first stage of a dog’s life cycle is when it is born as a live puppy (usually in a litter of several puppies). The puppy stage lasts as long as 1.5 years and then the dog enters its second stage of life — adolescence — when it grows to adult size. The third stage of a dog’s life is when it is an adult, and the fourth stage is the senior stage.

• Seeds germinate which means roots and stems come out of the seed. When plants first start to grow leaves, they are called seedlings. Seedlings slowly grow larger and produce flowers. If the flowers are pollinated — usually by insects — they produce more seeds and the cycle starts all over again.

• The life cycles of all living things start with birth, involve growth and reproduction and end with death.