Trace metamorphosis in butterflies and frogs, egg development, pollination, seed dispersal and germination. Review suitability for your learners before teaching.
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Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9
Animal & plant life cycles
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. How are wind-pollinated plants (such as grasses, rice and maize) different from insect-pollinated flowers: they have small, dull flowers without scent or nectar and produce huge amounts of light pollen that blows in the wind, or they have giant neon petals?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
2. Why does a hard outer shell cover a bird’s egg (such as a hen’s egg): to protect the developing chick inside while still allowing oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass through tiny pores, or to make it sink?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
3. In the life cycle of a butterfly, what is the resting casing inside which the caterpillar transforms into a winged adult: the chrysalis (pupa) or the seed?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
4. How is a coconut fruit adapted to be dispersed between islands by ocean currents: it has a thick, fibrous, air-filled husk that makes it buoyant (float) and waterproof in seawater, or it has wings?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
5. After a flower is pollinated and fertilised, which part of the flower swells and ripens into a fruit (such as a mango, tomato or apple) protecting the seeds inside: the ovary or the stem?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
6. After pollen lands on the stigma and travels down to join with an ovule inside the flower’s ovary, what is this fusion of male and female cells called: fertilisation or transpiration?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
7. In the life cycle of a butterfly, what is the feeding stage that hatches from the egg and eats leaves to grow rapidly: the caterpillar (larva) or the pupa?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
8. How does a newly hatched tadpole breathe while living underwater before it grows lungs: through gills, or through a snorkel?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
9. What do we call an animal (such as a dragonfly or grasshopper) whose young (nymph) looks like a small wingless version of the adult and sheds its skin (moults) several times without a pupa stage: incomplete metamorphosis or complete metamorphosis?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
10. What is the correct four-stage life cycle of a butterfly in order: Egg → Caterpillar (larva) → Chrysalis (pupa) → Adult butterfly, or Adult → Egg → Caterpillar → Pupa?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
11. Why do plants scatter (disperse) their seeds away from the parent plant: so the young seedlings do not have to compete with the parent plant for light, water and soil minerals, or to keep the seeds cold?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
12. What is the correct life cycle of a frog (an amphibian) in order: Frogspawn (eggs) → Tadpole → Froglet (with legs) → Adult frog, or Tadpole → Egg → Adult frog?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
12 questions · Seed 104729 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
View the answer key
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9
Animal & plant life cycles
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. How are wind-pollinated plants (such as grasses, rice and maize) different from insect-pollinated flowers: they have small, dull flowers without scent or nectar and produce huge amounts of light pollen that blows in the wind, or they have giant neon petals?
They have small, dull flowers without scent or nectar and produce huge amounts of light pollen that blows in the wind
Because grasses rely on the wind rather than insects, they do not need showy petals or nectar.
2. Why does a hard outer shell cover a bird’s egg (such as a hen’s egg): to protect the developing chick inside while still allowing oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass through tiny pores, or to make it sink?
To protect the developing chick inside while still allowing oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass through tiny pores
The porous calcium carbonate shell protects the embryo and prevents it from drying out.
3. In the life cycle of a butterfly, what is the resting casing inside which the caterpillar transforms into a winged adult: the chrysalis (pupa) or the seed?
Chrysalis (pupa)
Inside the chrysalis (pupa), tissues reorganise into the adult butterfly.
4. How is a coconut fruit adapted to be dispersed between islands by ocean currents: it has a thick, fibrous, air-filled husk that makes it buoyant (float) and waterproof in seawater, or it has wings?
It has a thick, fibrous, air-filled husk that makes it buoyant (float) and waterproof in seawater
Coconuts can float across the sea for weeks and still germinate when washed onto a sandy beach.
5. After a flower is pollinated and fertilised, which part of the flower swells and ripens into a fruit (such as a mango, tomato or apple) protecting the seeds inside: the ovary or the stem?
The ovary
In botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary of a flowering plant containing the seeds.
6. After pollen lands on the stigma and travels down to join with an ovule inside the flower’s ovary, what is this fusion of male and female cells called: fertilisation or transpiration?
Fertilisation
After fertilisation, the ovule develops into a seed and the surrounding ovary swells into a fruit.
7. In the life cycle of a butterfly, what is the feeding stage that hatches from the egg and eats leaves to grow rapidly: the caterpillar (larva) or the pupa?
Caterpillar (larva)
The caterpillar is the larval stage specialised for feeding and growth.
8. How does a newly hatched tadpole breathe while living underwater before it grows lungs: through gills, or through a snorkel?
Through gills
Tadpoles use gills to absorb dissolved oxygen from water; as they metamorphose into frogs, they develop lungs and breathe through moist skin.
9. What do we call an animal (such as a dragonfly or grasshopper) whose young (nymph) looks like a small wingless version of the adult and sheds its skin (moults) several times without a pupa stage: incomplete metamorphosis or complete metamorphosis?
Incomplete metamorphosis
Incomplete metamorphosis has three stages: Egg → Nymph → Adult (no pupa stage).
10. What is the correct four-stage life cycle of a butterfly in order: Egg → Caterpillar (larva) → Chrysalis (pupa) → Adult butterfly, or Adult → Egg → Caterpillar → Pupa?
A butterfly undergoes complete metamorphosis through four distinct stages.
11. Why do plants scatter (disperse) their seeds away from the parent plant: so the young seedlings do not have to compete with the parent plant for light, water and soil minerals, or to keep the seeds cold?
So the young seedlings do not have to compete with the parent plant for light, water and soil minerals
Seed dispersal reduces overcrowding and helps plants colonise new habitats.
12. What is the correct life cycle of a frog (an amphibian) in order: Frogspawn (eggs) → Tadpole → Froglet (with legs) → Adult frog, or Tadpole → Egg → Adult frog?
Frogs lay jelly-coated eggs in water that hatch into gill-breathing tadpoles before growing legs and lungs.
12 questions · Seed 104729 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9
Animal & plant life cycles
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. How are wind-pollinated plants (such as grasses, rice and maize) different from insect-pollinated flowers: they have small, dull flowers without scent or nectar and produce huge amounts of light pollen that blows in the wind, or they have giant neon petals?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
2. Why does a hard outer shell cover a bird’s egg (such as a hen’s egg): to protect the developing chick inside while still allowing oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass through tiny pores, or to make it sink?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
3. In the life cycle of a butterfly, what is the resting casing inside which the caterpillar transforms into a winged adult: the chrysalis (pupa) or the seed?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
4. How is a coconut fruit adapted to be dispersed between islands by ocean currents: it has a thick, fibrous, air-filled husk that makes it buoyant (float) and waterproof in seawater, or it has wings?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
5. After a flower is pollinated and fertilised, which part of the flower swells and ripens into a fruit (such as a mango, tomato or apple) protecting the seeds inside: the ovary or the stem?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
6. After pollen lands on the stigma and travels down to join with an ovule inside the flower’s ovary, what is this fusion of male and female cells called: fertilisation or transpiration?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
7. In the life cycle of a butterfly, what is the feeding stage that hatches from the egg and eats leaves to grow rapidly: the caterpillar (larva) or the pupa?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
8. How does a newly hatched tadpole breathe while living underwater before it grows lungs: through gills, or through a snorkel?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
9. What do we call an animal (such as a dragonfly or grasshopper) whose young (nymph) looks like a small wingless version of the adult and sheds its skin (moults) several times without a pupa stage: incomplete metamorphosis or complete metamorphosis?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
10. What is the correct four-stage life cycle of a butterfly in order: Egg → Caterpillar (larva) → Chrysalis (pupa) → Adult butterfly, or Adult → Egg → Caterpillar → Pupa?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
11. Why do plants scatter (disperse) their seeds away from the parent plant: so the young seedlings do not have to compete with the parent plant for light, water and soil minerals, or to keep the seeds cold?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
12. What is the correct life cycle of a frog (an amphibian) in order: Frogspawn (eggs) → Tadpole → Froglet (with legs) → Adult frog, or Tadpole → Egg → Adult frog?
Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
12 questions · Seed 104729 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9
Animal & plant life cycles
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. How are wind-pollinated plants (such as grasses, rice and maize) different from insect-pollinated flowers: they have small, dull flowers without scent or nectar and produce huge amounts of light pollen that blows in the wind, or they have giant neon petals?
They have small, dull flowers without scent or nectar and produce huge amounts of light pollen that blows in the wind
Because grasses rely on the wind rather than insects, they do not need showy petals or nectar.
2. Why does a hard outer shell cover a bird’s egg (such as a hen’s egg): to protect the developing chick inside while still allowing oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass through tiny pores, or to make it sink?
To protect the developing chick inside while still allowing oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass through tiny pores
The porous calcium carbonate shell protects the embryo and prevents it from drying out.
3. In the life cycle of a butterfly, what is the resting casing inside which the caterpillar transforms into a winged adult: the chrysalis (pupa) or the seed?
Chrysalis (pupa)
Inside the chrysalis (pupa), tissues reorganise into the adult butterfly.
4. How is a coconut fruit adapted to be dispersed between islands by ocean currents: it has a thick, fibrous, air-filled husk that makes it buoyant (float) and waterproof in seawater, or it has wings?
It has a thick, fibrous, air-filled husk that makes it buoyant (float) and waterproof in seawater
Coconuts can float across the sea for weeks and still germinate when washed onto a sandy beach.
5. After a flower is pollinated and fertilised, which part of the flower swells and ripens into a fruit (such as a mango, tomato or apple) protecting the seeds inside: the ovary or the stem?
The ovary
In botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary of a flowering plant containing the seeds.
6. After pollen lands on the stigma and travels down to join with an ovule inside the flower’s ovary, what is this fusion of male and female cells called: fertilisation or transpiration?
Fertilisation
After fertilisation, the ovule develops into a seed and the surrounding ovary swells into a fruit.
7. In the life cycle of a butterfly, what is the feeding stage that hatches from the egg and eats leaves to grow rapidly: the caterpillar (larva) or the pupa?
Caterpillar (larva)
The caterpillar is the larval stage specialised for feeding and growth.
8. How does a newly hatched tadpole breathe while living underwater before it grows lungs: through gills, or through a snorkel?
Through gills
Tadpoles use gills to absorb dissolved oxygen from water; as they metamorphose into frogs, they develop lungs and breathe through moist skin.
9. What do we call an animal (such as a dragonfly or grasshopper) whose young (nymph) looks like a small wingless version of the adult and sheds its skin (moults) several times without a pupa stage: incomplete metamorphosis or complete metamorphosis?
Incomplete metamorphosis
Incomplete metamorphosis has three stages: Egg → Nymph → Adult (no pupa stage).
10. What is the correct four-stage life cycle of a butterfly in order: Egg → Caterpillar (larva) → Chrysalis (pupa) → Adult butterfly, or Adult → Egg → Caterpillar → Pupa?
A butterfly undergoes complete metamorphosis through four distinct stages.
11. Why do plants scatter (disperse) their seeds away from the parent plant: so the young seedlings do not have to compete with the parent plant for light, water and soil minerals, or to keep the seeds cold?
So the young seedlings do not have to compete with the parent plant for light, water and soil minerals
Seed dispersal reduces overcrowding and helps plants colonise new habitats.
12. What is the correct life cycle of a frog (an amphibian) in order: Frogspawn (eggs) → Tadpole → Froglet (with legs) → Adult frog, or Tadpole → Egg → Adult frog?