Grade 3's Studying the Life Cycles
of some common Animals this year!
We will be looking briefly at some vertebrates from the Chordata phylum. Chordates all have a "notochord" in their body which acts to stiffen and maintain body shape. In vertebrates this notochord is a nerve cord surrounded by rings of bone or cartilage (i.e. a spinal chord).
We will also look at one invertebrate - an insect!
Vertebrates include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Fish
- cold-blooded animals that live and breathe in the water. Salmon have an interesting life-cycle! This salmon web-page and was created by two Grade 5 students - Chris and John at Riverdale school in Oregon, U.S.A..
Amphibians
- cold-blooded animals start in water and as they grow older spend more time on land. Frogs and toads are members of this class and have an interesting life-cycle.
Reptiles
- cold-blooded animals covered with scales (i.e. snake, lizard, turtle, alligator, crocodile)
Mammals
- warm-blooded animals that have some hair on their body, nurse their young and have a highly developed brain.
Birds
- warm-blooded animals with wings and covered with feathers
We will also be looking, in more depth, into one type of insect - the butterfly!
The life-cycle of the butterfly can be divided into four distinct stages.
You could set up a vivarium full of Painted Lady larvae. Want to know more about the Painted Lady - go ahead!
Mr. Fawcett thinks this link on animals, may help your animal life-cycle research. Go check it out!
The Electronic Zoo is also a good place to get some good information on your chosen animal!
