Life Cycles

Nature is full of cycles. The sun rises, crosses the sky, and sets each day. The water cycle is critical to survival for all living things. Seasons are also cyclic.

Your school day is a cycle, too. You arrive, study some subjects, have lunch, study some more stuff, and finally head home. Your school day cycle can be interrupted by events like: holidays, weather, and illness. Natural cycles are impacted by events, as well. Although all the kids at school behave in the same general cycle, there are differences. For some students, the school day begins with Language Arts. Others may begin their day with Science or Mathematics.

Both plants and animals have life cycles. The life cycle of organisms includes several stages. The details of the life cycle vary for different organisms.

1. Use a table to compare the life cycle of two species that live in a field, meadow or fencerow.
The two species must be from different kingdoms, phylum, or classes.

2. How are the life cycles of the two species similar?

3. How are their life cycles different?

4. Weather can impact the cycle of a school day. The day could be cancelled, or start later.
You could even be dismissed early, cutting the day short.

Name 4 ways weather can impact the life cycle of a species.

How does the species change to cope with the weather?

5. How would the increase or decrease in the population of one of the species impact the other?

6. What actions by people can negatively impact the life cycle of one of the species?

What actions can people take to have a positive impact on the species?

Fields, Meadows, and Fencerows: Habitat / Mammals / Birds / Insect - Butterflies / Trees & Plants / Conclusion

Screech Owl Activity / Bats are our Buddies / Food Web Activity / Digital Science Journal

Fields, Meadows and Fencerows eGame | Mammal Morphology compare / Ecology Vocabulary Exercise / Life Cycles

School Habitat Garden Project / EcoCommunity Status in your state | Fields & Meadows photos

Water & Watershed Studies | Plants and People | Nature | Habitat Garden | PA HS Envirothon

The goal of this web project is to inform people through research, while fostering using higher order thinking skills. This study unit encourages the use of free Internet information resources. Activites develop writing, information literacy, technology and mathematics skills.