Introduce young learners to the power of technology, along with the ways in which life cycles function for various types of organisms. In the "Butterfly Life Cycle" WebQuest, students will use the Internet to learn about the four stages of life of the butterfly. Other examples of WebQuests include "Chickens Aren't The Only Ones!" "Lovely Ladybugs" and "Toad-ally Terrific Frogs and Toads," which explain the life cycles of these respective creatures.
Worksheets teach students to work on their own to answer questions and solve problems. Distribute worksheets with plenty of pictures. The illustrations should show a particular creature at each stage of its life cycle. Have the students write the name of each life cycle underneath each picture. If the students are able to write sentences, have them write a brief explanation of what occurs during each stage.
Allow students to play online games in which they learn how particular species replenish their numbers. Visit Zoodles to introduce the children to life-cycle games about turtles, hippos, elephants, butterflies and other species. As part of a classroom activity, assign students to teams, and ask them questions about life cycles. Award points to the team that gives the correct answer. At the end of the game, give a small prize to the winning team with the most points.
Distribute handouts to the children that have pictures of the stages of a particular animal's or plant's life cycle, and have them color in the pictures. Another option is to ask the students to draw the stages of life for a butterfly, plant or elephant. You could also ask the students to make models out of clay or teach them how to use a simple graphics program on the computer to make the pictures.