• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Compare life cycles: mammals, birds, amphibians and insects; Growing up: stages of a human life). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Are the young of this animal born live or do they hatch from eggs: cat? (born live / hatch from eggs) → born livePrompt: Is it a mammal?
2. How is a frog's life cycle different from a chicken's? (Chickens have a tadpole stage. / Young frogs (tadpoles) live in water and change shape a lot. / Frogs give birth to live young. / Frogs never lay eggs.) → Young frogs (tadpoles) live in water and change shape a lot.Prompt: What does a tadpole look like compared with an adult frog?
3. Are the young of this animal born live or do they hatch from eggs: salmon? (born live / hatch from eggs) → hatch from eggsPrompt: Is it a mammal?

• Ask everyone to find their pulse, then jump for 30 seconds and find it again.
• Share the objective: Compare how long mammals grow before birth. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Mice have a gestation of about 3 weeks. How does this fit the pattern?
• Step 1: Mice are tiny and have very short gestation, which fits the pattern.
• Step 2: So the answer is: Small mammal, short gestation
• Answer: Small mammal, short gestation
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Looking at dogs, humans, horses and elephants, what pattern do you notice? (Larger mammals tend to have longer gestation periods. / Gestation has nothing to do with size. / Smaller mammals always have longer gestation. / All mammals have the same gestation.) → Larger mammals tend to have longer gestation periods.Prompt: Compare the dog with the elephant.
2. Why can a newborn foal stand within hours, but a human baby cannot walk for about a year? (Foals are born more developed so they can escape predators with the herd. / Foals have more legs. / Human babies are lazy. / Human babies are born older.) → Foals are born more developed so they can escape predators with the herd.Prompt: Think about where a wild horse lives.

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. What is gestation? (how long an animal lives / the time it takes to learn to walk / the time an egg takes to hatch in a nest / the time a baby mammal grows inside its mother before birth) → the time a baby mammal grows inside its mother before birthPrompt: Humans: about 9 months.
2. Looking at dogs, humans, horses and elephants, what pattern do you notice? (Larger mammals tend to have longer gestation periods. / Smaller mammals always have longer gestation. / Gestation has nothing to do with size. / All mammals have the same gestation.) → Larger mammals tend to have longer gestation periods.Prompt: Compare the dog with the elephant.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-5.