Life Cycles Lesson 1 What is a life

Life Cycles Lesson 1

What is a life cycle? A life cycle is defined as the complete succession of changes undergone by an organism during its life. In some cases the process is slow, and the changes are gradual. All organisms go through stages of development. Environmental conditions such as water, temperature, and light affect the development of organisms. Scientists can even describe the life cycle of a star or a plastic bottle.

What are some life cycle stages? In most mammals the stages of life go from the fertilized egg, to the foetus, the juvenile, and then to the adult. Birds go from the egg, to the chick, to the adult. Amphibians go from the egg, to the larva, to the adult. Plants go from the seed, to the seedling , to the flowering plant. Insect go from the egg, to the larva, to the pupa, to the adult.

What’s the plan? You are to research the lifecycle of a Butterfly and create a Slowmation video of their lifecycle. Lesson 1 focuses on the planning and research phase. Within the lesson, you will research factual information regarding lifecycles. A brainstorming session will develop initial ideas about lifecycles. After this, you will explore how to use online search engines (such as Google) to look for reliable information relevant to the topic(s).

What will you be assessed on? Australian Curriculum – Year 3/4 Design and Technology � Generate, develop and communicate design ideas and decisions using appropriate technical terms and graphical representation techniques (ACTDEP 015). � Select and use materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques and use safe work practices to make designed solutions (ACTDEP 016). � Plan a sequence of production steps when making designed solutions individually and collaboratively (ACTDEP 018).

What will you be assessed on? Australian Curriculum – Year 4 Science �Living things have life cycles (ACSSU 072). �Living things depend on each other and the environment to survive (ACSSU 073). �With guidance, plan and conduct scientific investigations to find answers to questions, considering the safe use of appropriate materials and equipment (ACSIS 065). �Represent and communicate observations, ideas and finding using formal and informal representations (ACSIS 071).

What is Slowmation? How does it help you? A “Slowmation” (abbreviated from “Slow Animation”) is a simplified way to design and make a narrated stop-motion animation that is used to explain a concept or tell a story. The explanation can be enhanced with text or music and is an engaging way to learn. Students conduct research and use their own technology to design a sequence of representations. Slowmation is a multimodal digital representation.

Useful links to Slowmation videos. University of Wollongong. https: //slowmation. uow. edu. au/gallery/index. html The Rainbow Fish story (Youtube) https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=M_YXa 6 v. Mu. Z 4 Frog Lifecycle (Youtube) https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=acn. Kpxd 1 wn. I

Useful website for teachers http: //www. slowmation. com/ http: //ro. ecu. edu. au/cgi/viewcontent. cgi? article=2816&context=ajte http: //ro. ecu. edu. au/cgi/viewcontent. cgi? article=1437&context=theses http: //ro. uow. edu. au/cgi/viewcontent. cgi? article=1110&context=edupapers