Life Cycles

Unit Review Sheet

Facts and Definitions

Lesson 1: Characteristics of Living Things

• A cycle describes events that occur in the same way over and over again.
• The body design of living things helps them to progress through their life cycles.
• The environment affects the life cycles of living things.

Lesson 2: What Is A Life Cycle?

• Animals and plants progress through stages in their life cycles.
• Life cycles follow a circular pattern — they continue in the same pattern over and over again.

Lesson 3: Life Cycle of Animals

• Some animals hatch from eggs and some are born live from their mother.
• Mammals have live births.
• Amphibians, birds, and reptiles hatch from eggs.

Lesson 4: Insect Life Cycles

• A young insect may look very different from an adult insect.
• A pupa is an insect in the non-feeding, usually immobile, transformation stage between the larva and the adult stages of the life cycle.
• A chrysalis is the hard-shelled covering for a pupa.

Lesson 5: Plants and Soil

• Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make their own food.
• Decomposers are small creatures in the soil that break down plants and animals.

Lesson 6: Circle of Life

• All humans pass through the same life cycle stages.
• The human life cycle is dependent on other cycles in nature.

Lesson 7: Energy and Food Chains

• Energy is passed from one living thing to another.
• Plants get their energy from the sun.
• Plants are called producers because they make their own food.
• Animals that eat other organisms are called consumers.
• Animals that eat only other animals are called carnivores.
• Animals that eat only plants are called herbivores.
• Animals that eat plants and animals are called omnivores.

Lesson 8: Food Webs and Energy Pyramids

• A food web shows how food chains are connected.
• An energy pyramid is a visual way to see the flow of energy from one organism to another.

Lesson 9: Animals' Design

• A proboscis is the long tongue of a butterfly.

Final Project: A New Species

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