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1. Read and analyze the scenario and situation.
Check your understanding of the scenario. Don't be tempted to start thinking about potential solutions or to start looking for information.
1. List your personal understanding, ideas or hunches.
Now that you are familiar with Life Cycles you will write everything you know about Life Cycles. Describe your thoughts or ideas about how to solve the problem. There are not incorrect answers in this step, just feel free to brainstorm your ideas.
2. List what is known.
With your team use all the information available in the scenario to list everything that you know about Life Cycles. You do not have to conduct any research yet. Just use the information given and write the facts that you already know about Life Cycles.
3. List what is unknown.
With your team, make a list about what you do not know and would like to learn. List all the questions you will need to answer to solve the problem.
4. List what needs to be done.
"What should we do?" List actions to be taken, e.g., question an expert, conduct research, go to a board meeting about topic. List possible actions.
5. Develop a problem statement.
You will be responsible for thinking and choosing one of the questions to solve the problem. A problem statement should come from your analysis of what you know. In one or two sentences, you should be able to describe what it is that your group is trying to solve, produce, respond to, or find out. The problem statement may have to be revised as new information is discovered and brought to bear on the situation.
6. Gather information
Use all the resources available (Internet, library, etc) to research about the problem/topic and find a solution.
7. Present Findings
****Determine how students will present findings****
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Background
A resource document which gives teachers relevant and essential background knowledge on the science concept being addressed.
Objective
The student knows that organisms resemble their parents and have structures and processes that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to compare ways that young animals resemble their parents; and to observe and record life cycles of animals, such as a chicken, frog, or fish.
Foundation
Put in the simplest terms, the life cycle of an organism refers to its birth, life, and death. Through reproduction, the life cycle of a species of organisms is repeated countless times as the organisms struggle for life in their battle with the environment. Sometimes organisms fail in their fight to survive, such as any species that is now extinct. Others, such as crocodiles, have survived for millions of years through reproduction and overcoming their environment.
Though the birth, life, and death procedure is the same for all organisms, the steps, or stages, of the life portion can be different depending upon the organism. Plants demonstrate a relatively simple process of life. Beginning with the seed of the plant being placed in the ground through an act of nature or by human hand, eventually it will begin to grow and break through the crust of the ground to become a seedling, which is just a small plant. Young plants (seedlings) usually resemble their parents in that, though smaller in size, their leaves, color, and shape will copy their parents. As a seedling becomes an adult plant, the general appearance will not change; it will only be larger with more limbs, branches, and leaves. Once a plant reaches the adult stage, it prepares for reproduction by creating seed. A plant sometimes protects its seed by either encasing it in a hard shell, like a walnut, or a soft, fleshy covering, like a peach. When the walnut or peach falls from the tree, this protection gives the little seed a chance to begin to grow. Some plants use flowers to attract insects in order to cause the insects to carry their seed to other plants for fertilization. In all cases, when the seed falls to the ground and if is fortunate enough to settle into good soil, it will begin to grow into a seedling and the life cycle will be repeated.
Many animals, including fish, mammals, reptiles, and birds have relatively simple life cycles: they are born (either alive from their mothers or hatched from eggs,) they grow up, and become adults. The young are typically similar to their parents, just smaller, and slowly grow into adulthood. This form of life process is called direct development.
Amphibians, such as frogs, have a life cycle that is completely different from direct development. Frogs undergo a complete metamorphosis, which means they completely change their appearance from childhood to adulthood. When a frog is born, it is a water breathing, fishlike creature with gills and no limbs. Once they reach adult state, they have become air breathing, land animals, with legs and lungs.
Many insects also experience complete metamorphosis during their life cycle. They have four stages of life: (1) the egg, or unborn stage, (2) larva, the young stage when most feeding is done and they look like worms, (3) pupa, the inactive no feeding stage when they are camouflaged and changing, and (4) the adult stage when they usually have wings and are ready for reproduction. Most butterflies experience complete metamorphosis during their life cycles.
About 10% of insects undergo an incomplete metamorphosis, which means they do not have the pupa (worm-like) form. They have three stages of life: (1) egg, (2) nymph, the young stage when they resemble their parents but are smaller in size, and (3) the adult stage, when they usually grow wings. Grasshoppers are examples of insects which go through incomplete metamorphosis during their life cycle.
Through observation, we can record, compare, and illustrate the life cycles of various plants and animals.
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