Science lesson plan · 3rd grade (Year 4 in England) · 45 minutes
Compare life cycles: mammals, birds, amphibians and insects
Animals and habitats
CCSS NGSS.3-LS1-1England: KS2 Y5 Living things and their habitats
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Compare life cycles: mammals, birds, amphibians and insects.
- I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
- I can explain each step and say why it works.
- I can check my answer and spot a mistake.
Before and after
Needs first: Animal life cycles; Metamorphosis: complete, incomplete or none?
Leads to: Compare how long mammals grow before birth
Materials: Animal picture cards, Habitat maps, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 5 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Animal life cycles; Metamorphosis: complete, incomplete or none?). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- What kind of life cycle does this animal have: cricket? (complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, adult) / incomplete metamorphosis (egg, nymph, adult) / no metamorphosis (young look like small adults)) → incomplete metamorphosis (egg, nymph, adult)Prompt: Does the young animal look like the adult?
- In the life cycle of a grasshopper, what comes straight after "egg"? (nymph / adult grasshopper / larger nymph) → nymphPrompt: Grasshoppers have no pupa stage.
- What kind of life cycle does this animal have: butterfly? (complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, adult) / incomplete metamorphosis (egg, nymph, adult) / no metamorphosis (young look like small adults)) → complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, adult)Prompt: Does the young animal look like the adult?
Hook · 5 min
- Show a picture of an unusual animal and ask where it might live and how it survives there.
- Share the objective: Compare life cycles: mammals, birds, amphibians and insects. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 10 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: Are the young of this animal born live or do they hatch from eggs: frog?
- Step 1: Birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects usually lay eggs.
- Step 2: So the answer is: hatch from eggs
- Answer: hatch from eggs
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 10 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Are the young of this animal born live or do they hatch from eggs: bat? (born live / hatch from eggs) → born livePrompt: Is it a mammal?
- What do the life cycles of a frog, a chicken and a cat ALL have? (a pupa stage / a tadpole stage / feeding young on milk / birth or hatching, growth, becoming an adult, and reproducing) → birth or hatching, growth, becoming an adult, and reproducingPrompt: Think of the stages every animal goes through.
You do: independent practice · 10 min
- 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 5 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- True or false? Birds lay eggs with hard shells. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Think about eggs, live young, tadpoles and pupae.
- A salmon hatches in a river, swims to the sea, then returns to the same river to lay eggs. Which stage is this? (the adult reproducing / the larva / metamorphosis into a frog / the egg) → the adult reproducingPrompt: Laying eggs is part of which life stage?
Watch out for
- Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
- Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"
Support and stretch
Support
- Review first: Animal life cycles.
- Use concrete materials: animal picture cards.
- Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
- Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.
Stretch
- Move on to: Compare how long mammals grow before birth.
- Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
- Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.
Homework and more practice
Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-3.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder