Animal and Insect Life Cycles

All animals and insects go through a life cycle just like humans do. They may just look a little different than the human life cycle. We will be looking at a couple life cycles.

The Butterfly

We will start by looking at a butterfly life cycle. The butterfly life cycle is one of the most commonly known life cycles. You may have already studied a butterfly life cycle in school. The life cycle starts out with a tiny, round egg. The egg is attached to leaves or stems by a female caterpillar.

The egg then hatches into a caterpillar (or larva). This is the worm stage before it is a butterfly. This would be the stage where it eats and grows really big. It even sheds its skin four or more times because of its rapidly growing body.

The next stage is when the chrysalis is formed and the caterpillar breaks down to grow the adult parts of the butterfly.

 
The last and final stage of this life cycle is when the butterfly is formed into its adult form.

The butterfly is a beautiful insect and is helpful for plants and the environment.

The Frog

The other life cycle we will explore is the frog life cycle. This is also a commonly known life cycle.
The frog starts out as an egg as well. They are usually in big patches which are very slimy and they stay around wet areas.

The next stage of a frog's life cycle is the embryo. This is where the frog begins to grow gills and organs.

After the embryo, the tadpole is created. This is a baby frog. They will attach themselves to a weed in the water until they are big enough to go on their own

After he tadpole is created, it starts to transform into a frog. it starts out by growing their hind legs and then their front legs. The formation continues until it completely transforms into an adult size frog.

Life cycles are amazing things! They start out so small and then turn into something big and beautiful. Some insects may not look the greatest but everything has a purpose for the world. Insects and animals help the environment grow and keep going so it survives.

Thanks for viewing! :)



References

The Children's Butterfly Site. Life Cycle of Butterflies and Moths. Retrieved from http://www.kidsbutterfly.org/life-cycle

Life Cycle. Retrieved from http://www.tooter4kids.com/Frogs/life_cycle_of_frogs.htm

The Human Life Cycle: The Seven Stages

            The Human goes through many different life cycles. There are more than seven cycles but there are seven stages to go through. The cycles of the human body includes sleeping, breathing, eating, blood flow, being awake, and much more. The seven stages are as follows: Infancy, Toddler, Early Childhood, Late Childhood/School Age, Adolescence (teenager), Young Adult, Adulthood. The picture shown below shows more than seven stages but the school age stages can be combined and Early and middle adulthood can be combined.


      
         Infancy would be during the 0-1 year of life. This is where the child starts to grow really fast and learns to trust people. This is where they also learn to move their body different ways. This stage is the start of the next stage to come which is very important for the developmental growth of a child.

        Toddler and Early Childhood go along with each other because this is during the 2-4 years of age. This is a crucial stage for every body. This is where they really start to take in all the emotions and information around their environments. This where the brain is also in a high developing stage where the child will take in anything they hear and try to logically think through everything they do. This is where the child likes to start exploring the world and learn from right and wrong. This stage is when they develop their own personality as well.

        Late Childhood/School Age is during the 5-12 years of age. This stage is where the child starts to learn a lot about themselves and sometimes starts puberty towards the later years of this stage. Many different things start to happen to the body during this stage such as facial blemishes, body weight gain or loss, increasing muscle or strength, body hair, and much more. It all depends on how early or late the child's body will develop. This stage is also when the child will learn from the people around them and their own experiences.

        Adolescence is during the 13-17 years of life. This is the stage when the body is almost fully developing and the children are becoming to have a mind of their own. Attitudes start showing and rebellious behavior may start occurring. This is when puberty has fully started to happen and sexual tension may start happening. The children also start to become more independent.

                                                         

        Young Adulthood is during the 18-30 years of life. This is the point where the children become adults and start college or begin their own path out into the world. Moving out onto their own and making their own decisions occur in this stage. There may be multiple boyfriends or girlfriends coming into the picture in this stage or even marriage possibly. Some adults are trying to find their reason for being here in this stage and try to fulfill that reason or reach their goals.


         Adulthood is the last stage and is during the 31+ years of life. This is when most adults have their lives figured out. They have homes, families, and jobs. They no longer need their parents to support them. Some adults in this stage, depending on the age, don't have their parents anymore because they have passed. This is where the adults have figured out their hobbies and finding ways to live life day by day. This is also the stage, depending on age, that the adults start to accept death and know that they will be in good hands.   

        Each stage can go much more into depth but this is keeping it simple. Every stage and cycle in the human life is very crucial for development. We all need to pass one stage before we can move onto the next. Without stages, we would be a mess. Nobody would know who they are and we wouldn't have the education we get when we first start out into the world.

Please come back! My next post will be about animal and insect life cycles and how they work!

References

Braverman, Jody. 2013. The Human Life Cycle Stages. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/79177-human-life-cycle-stages/

Spiritual Growth Keys. 2012. Cycles of Life. Retrieved from http://www.spiritualgrowthkeys.com/cycles-of-life.html

What are Life Cycles? Why do they happen?

        

What are Life Cycles?


          In biology, a life cycle is a series of changes that any organism (living thing) goes through, and then repeats itself over and over. Different transitions that occur may involve growth (height and weight), asexual reproduction (something made by a single living thing), and/or sexual reproduction (Something made from two partners. There are different generations of organisms that may live longer than the others in the life cycle. Many zoologists (someone who studies the behavior and progression of animals and wildlife) actually found out about the reproduction and development of organisms.

Here is a picture of a few different animal and insect life cycles:

It is really interesting to see how each animal forms from the beginning of their life. Each life cycle starts out as an egg but has different ways they form into their adult state.

In a life cycle, old organisms create new organisms. The old organisms eventually die but the new organisms continue to live to ensure that the species population continues to grow. The life cycle allows the organism to reach adulthood which involves going through many physical changes. When they reach adulthood, they are then able to create new offspring, or organisms. That is one of the main reasons for life cycles. There are plant, animal, and human life cycles that occur everywhere around the world. A human life cycle is grouped into stages because it is so long and there is so much put into a human life cycle.

Here is an example of a human life cycle:

Here is also a link for an interactive website that can be used to look at the life cycle of birds, butterflies, and frogs: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/scienceforkids/life_cycle/index.htm

Here are some Fun Facts that I retrieved from kidskonnect.com about life cycles:

• A life cycle is defined as the complete succession of changes undergone by an organism during its life. A new cycle occurs when an identical set of changes is begun.
• All organisms go through stages of development.
• Environmental conditions such as water, temperature, and light affect the development of organisms.
• In most mammals the stages of life go from the fertilized egg, to the fetus, the juvenile, and then to the adult.
• Birds go from the egg, to the chick, to the adult.
• Amphibians go from the egg, to the larva, to the adult.
• Plants go from the seed, to the seedling , to the flowering plant.
• Insect go from the egg, to the larva, to the pupa, to the adult.
• Scientists can even describe the life cycle of a star or a plastic bottle.
• Even families can have a life cycle. Most families have the parents come together as a unit. They can then have a child. The child becomes an adult. The new adult leaves home, finds a partner, produces offspring and the life cycle begins again.

My next post will be about the seven stages of human development so please stay tuned!


References

Biological Life Cycles. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_life_cycle

Science A-Z: Life Cycles. Retrieved from www.sciencea-z.com

KidsKonnect. Life Cycle Facts. Retrieved from https://kidskonnect.com/science/life-cycles/

google.com images

Life Cycles happen all the time around the world. There are a few interactive life cycle websites that are very informational for 1st-3rd grade students. http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/science/hamshall/life_cycles/images/lifecycleflash.swf
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/scienceforkids/life_cycle/frog_game_9.17.swf
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/lifecycles.html