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
