Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the activity and exploration you just completed.

• Lesson Assessment and Answer Key
• Readings: Learn more about animal life cycles with readings!
• Activities: Two activities that let your students continue to explore animal life cycles.
• Videos: Observe the stages in the life cycles of butterflies and frogs.

The following readings are free with registration at Readworks.

These readings about frogs and bees, and hummingbirds will keep your third graders thinking about animal life cycles.

For students who are reading below grade level, here are readings about the life cycles of kangaroos (grade1), moths (grade 2), and sea turtles (Grade 2).

For students reading above grade level, check out these readings about the life cycles of butterflies (grade 5), cicadas (grade 5),

Make a Growing Caterpillar Card — This Mystery Science mini-lesson includes an activity that explores the world through the eyes of a hungry caterpillar. Students make a card that contains a caterpillar that grows! The accompanying video discusses the question: “Are butterflies the only animals that start out as caterpillars?"

Make a Poster — Have students research two different animals and then make a poster comparing and contrasting the life cycles of those animals. For students who need help getting started, check out these free printable coloring pages showing the life cycles of Birds (chicken, penguin), Fish, Reptiles (turtle), Amphibians (frog, salamander), and Insects (ladybug, mealworm, butterfly, ant, mosquito, dragonfly).

Close-up videos let students observe the stages of the Monarch butterfly’s life cycle – from the caterpillar chewing its way out of the egg to the butterfly taking flight.

A nine-year-old describes the frog life cycle and shows us tadpoles at different stages. These tadpoles are from a type of frog that develops much more quickly than the bullfrog from this lesson, going from tadpole to frog in just a few weeks.