One of the most interesting aspects of insect life cycles is metamorphosis, which is the process of transformation that some insects go through as they grow and change.
In this blog post, we will explore some fun and creative ideas for teaching kids about the life cycles of different types of insects, including those that go through metamorphosis, such as the butterfly, ladybug, and praying mantis.
1. 🦋 Raise insects in your classroom.
Whether it’s butterflies, lady beetles, or mealworms your students will love to observe the changes that these insects go through! There is no better way to teach insect life cycles than to show real life examples of the stages each insect goes through. Having a hard time choosing which insect to bring in your classroom? Poll your students and find out what they’d love to see!
2. 🐝 Bees Life Science
This comprehensive unit explores bee and insect life cycles, complete and incomplete metamorphosis, plant and animal pollination structures, and the impact of decomposers on our ecosystem! This unit lays out 13 days of planned instruction which includes PowerPoints, printables, and more!
See it on TPT : Bees Unit
3. 🐞 Ladybug Digital Inquiry Jr.
The Ladybug Life Cycle Digital Inquiry Jr. activity asks students to independently watch and read information in order to build a diagram and construct a response to show what they learned.
While students are working on the Digital Inquiry Jr. whole group, I love pulling a few students at a time to my teacher table and working on a review activity with them. This gives me a chance to reinforce vocabulary while the rest of my students are engaged and working hard on the Digital Inquiry Jr.
See it on TpT : Ladybug Digital Inquiry Jr.
4. 📓 Interactive Fold-up
The All In One interactive notebook is my go-to for engaging, hands-on materials. This incomplete metamorphosis foldable activity is low prep and is sure to grab the attention of your students. To save even more time I like to pre-cut the tabs using a large paper cutter!
See it on TpT : Life Cycles Notebook Templates
5. ❓ Vocabulary Task Cards
Task cards are a great way to review life cycle related vocabulary and require minimal prep! For added fun, have students play a board game while answering the task card questions.
See it on TpT : Task Cards
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2 thoughts on “5 Ideas to Teach Insect Life Cycles- Complete and Incomplete Metamorphosis”
Where do you order your meal worms & what type of container do you use to keep them in?
Our region office in Central Texas has a Living Science program where you can borrow or receive animals and plants. They lived in a plastic terrarium with small holes in the top.