wunder beta🐣 Life Cycles and Reproduction
Follow living things from the start of life through growing up and making new life, in plants and animals alike.
What you’ll learn
- What Is a Life CycleExplain what a life cycle is and describe reproduction as the stage that makes new life.A life cycle is the set of stages a living thing goes through: a new life begins, it grows, it becomes an adult, and it reproduces, which starts the cycle again. Reproduction, making new living things, is how each kind of plant and animal keeps going.
- How Plants Make New PlantsDescribe the flowering-plant life cycle and how pollination and seed dispersal help plants reproduce.A flowering plant grows from a seed that germinates into a seedling and then an adult with flowers. Flowers reproduce when pollen moves between them, carried by animals or wind, and seeds form. Seed dispersal spreads those seeds so new plants have room to grow.
- How Animals Grow and ChangeCompare metamorphosis with direct growth, and explain how offspring inherit traits.Some animals, like butterflies, change body shape through metamorphosis: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly. Animals also begin life differently, hatching from eggs or being born alive as mammals. Young inherit traits from their parents, so they resemble them without being exact copies.
Questions this course answers
What does the word reproduction mean?
Reproduction means making new living things, which is how each kind of plant or animal keeps going.
Which of these is the correct pattern most life cycles follow?
Most life cycles go from a new life beginning, to growing up, to becoming an adult, to reproducing, and then the cycle repeats.
What is it called when a seed wakes up and begins to sprout?
Germination is when a seed gets water, warmth, and air and begins to sprout a root and shoot.
How do flowers help a plant make seeds?
Pollen must move from flower to flower, and once a flower receives pollen it can grow seeds inside.
Why is it helpful for seeds to be spread far from the parent plant?
Spreading seeds gives new plants space, light, and water instead of crowding the parent.
What is the correct order of a butterfly's metamorphosis?
A butterfly goes egg, then caterpillar, then chrysalis, then butterfly, a big change called metamorphosis.
Grounded in trusted sources
- National Geographic Kids
- Britannica Kids
- Khan Academy
- Smithsonian's National Zoo
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