seegongsik
Saved words
Grade 3 (age 8-9)

grade 3 Animal Life Cycles

Animal Life Cycles

Animals are born, grow up, and have young of their own, and so the life cycle continues. A butterfly goes from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult, a frog from egg to tadpole to frog, and a chicken from egg to chick to adult hen. A pupa stage, like the butterfly's, means complete metamorphosis; growing with no pupa, like a grasshopper, is incomplete. Pick a butterfly, a frog, or a chicken and the life cycle from egg to adult comes into view, with the two kinds of metamorphosis side by side.

What is an animal life cycle?

🦋 What is a Life Cycle?
①The process of an animal being born, growing, and reproducing
②Butterfly: egg→caterpillar→chrysalis→butterfly (complete)
③Frog: egg→tadpole→frog (a life cycle where the body changes a lot)
④Chicken: egg→chick→chicken (grows without metamorphosis)
⑤This chapter centers on complete and incomplete insect metamorphosis

Types of Metamorphosis

💡 Types of Metamorphosis
①Complete: has a chrysalis stage (butterfly, bee, ladybug)
②Incomplete: grows without chrysalis (grasshopper, dragonfly)
③Body fully transforms inside the chrysalis
④Not all animals undergo metamorphosis
⑤A nymph is a young insect that grows by molting, with no pupa stage
⑥In complete metamorphosis, food often changes by stage: a caterpillar eats leaves, a butterfly drinks nectar

Summary

Complete Metamorphosis
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
Butterflies, ladybugs, bees — pass through a pupa stage
Incomplete Metamorphosis
Egg → Nymph → Adult
Grasshoppers, dragonflies, cicadas — no pupa stage
🎯 Key Points
①Life cycle: born, grow, reproduce
②Complete metamorphosis has a pupa stage
③Incomplete grows without pupa
④Birds and mammals do not metamorphose
⑤Each stage has different food and lifestyle

Examples and Unit Test

Example 1
Put the butterfly life cycle in the correct order using egg, larva, pupa, and adult butterfly.
1
A butterfly goes through complete metamorphosis, which includes a pupa stage.
2
The order is egg → larva → pupa → adult butterfly.
▸ Egg → larva → pupa → adult butterfly
Complete metamorphosis goes egg → larva → pupa → adult.
Example 2
How are the life cycles of a butterfly and a grasshopper different?
1
A butterfly goes through complete metamorphosis, with a pupa stage.
2
A grasshopper goes through incomplete metamorphosis, becoming an adult straight from the nymph with no pupa stage.
▸ Butterfly = complete metamorphosis (with pupa) / grasshopper = incomplete (no pupa)
A pupa stage means complete metamorphosis; no pupa means incomplete.
Unit-test style
Which statement about animal life cycles is correct?
①Every insect goes through a pupa stage
②A butterfly goes through complete metamorphosis with a pupa stage
③A grasshopper has a pupa stage
④A chicken goes through metamorphosis
⑤A life cycle begins only once the animal is an adult
▸ ② A butterfly goes through complete metamorphosis with a pupa stage
1
A butterfly goes egg → larva → pupa → adult, which is complete metamorphosis.
2
Some insects like grasshoppers have no pupa stage (① and ③), a chicken just grows from a chick without metamorphosis (④), and a life cycle begins at birth (⑤).
← Previous
Measuring Weight
Next →
Plant Life Cycle