Here are links to Science Learning Hub resources for primary teachers related to life cycles in the Living World strand of the New Zealand Curriculum.
Explore the life cycles of birds, butterflies, crabs, eels, ferns, fungi1, green-lipped mussels, human beings, inanga (whitebait), insects, moths, plants and more.
Birds
Discover more about the life cycles of birds.
Penguin life cycle – Image
Life cycle of kākā – Interactive
Butterflies
Explore the life cycles of native2 and introduced New Zealand butterflies.
Unit plan: Butterflies (lower primary)
Unit plan: Butterflies (upper primary)
Butterflies – Introductory article with links to media, articles and activities
Monarch butterflies – Article
White butterflies – Article
White butterfly life cycle – Activity
Crabs
Crab larvae3 develop in open water, not near the reef where they started their life. Fertilised crab eggs are released into the water and float with the currents while they develop into the larval4 form. They find their way back to suitable habitats5 from long distances.
Crabs finding home – Article
Crab life cycle – Image
Eels
The life cycle of eels has long been a mystery. The eels breed only once at the end of their life cycle. In the autumn, adult eels leave the rivers and streams and head for the ocean. From there, they make a long journey of thousands of kilometres to a place somewhere in the South Pacific ocean. Scientists think the spawning6 grounds may be close to Tonga.
Longfin eels – Article
Adapting SLH activities: changing the topic – PLD
Role-play – building science knowledge and Role-play – playing the game and reflections – Videos
Inanga life cycle – Image
Life cycle of freshwater eels – Image
Longfin eel – on a path to extinction? – Article
Ferns
Ferns are unique amongst land plants in that they have 2 separate living structures in their reproductive7 cycle.
What is a fern? – Article
Fern life cycle – Interactive
Fern propagation – Activity
Why are ferns unique? – Video
Fern reproduction – Video
Fungi
Fungi are almost everywhere – learn more about fungal life cycles and different parts of a fungus8.
Fungal life cycles – spores and more – Article
Ngā hurihanga ora o te hekaheka – ngā pua atua me ētahi atu hanga – Article
Mushroom life cycle – Image
Te hurihanga ora o te harore – Image
Green-lipped mussels
During its life cycle, the green-lipped mussel undergoes enormous changes, including fundamental changes in shape. It changes from a free-swimming larval9 form (which swims in the ocean) to a settled juvenile and adult form (which is anchored to one spot).
Life of a green-lipped mussel – Article
Human beings
Find out about the key stages in the development of a human.
Fertilisation to adulthood – Timeline
Inanga (whitebait)
Whitebait lay their eggs in freshwater, and after hatching, the larvae are swept down to the ocean where they grow. The young then move back up into freshwater in large shoals known as runs.
Whitebait – Article
Inanga and other whitebait – Video
Insects
Scale insects10 are tiny in size but have a significant impact on the forest ecosystem11.
Scale insect life cycle – Video
Glow-worms spend most of their lives as larvae – where their famous light is produced most brightly. The other stages are surprisingly short in comparison.
Glow-worms – Article
Discover how different our native wasps are to the common idea of what a wasp is.
Parasitoid wasp life cycle – Article
Moths
Find out how to rear moths using basic equipment such as a plastic12 lunchbox to grow eggs and caterpillars into moths.
Rearing insects – Activity
Rearing moths – Video
Plants
Humans have many reasons to grow plants: for food, for building materials or simply for pleasure. A plant really just has one reason to grow – to reproduce to make more plants like it.
Unit plan: Pollination (lower primary)
Seeds, Stems and Spores – Introductory article with links to media, articles and activities
Plant reproduction – Article
Plant reproduction without seeds – Article
The seed-flower life cycle – Article
Flowering plant life cycles – Article
Pollination pairs – Activity
Trees and natural cycles – Article
- fungi: The Fungi are a kingdom separate from plants and animals. Like animals, a fungus (or fungi – plural) is an organism that cannot make its own food. It can be multicellular such as mushrooms and moulds, or unicellular such as yeasts. Fungi may be decomposers, parasites, or mutualists (helping plants to grow).
- native: A species that lives naturally in a country, as opposed to species that have been introduced by the activity of humans.
- larva: An immature form that some animals (such as insects, crustaceans and amphibians) pass through before metamorphosing into an adult form.
- larval: The immature or juvenile form of some animals.
- habitat: The natural environment in which an organism lives.
- spawning: The laying of eggs by aquatic animals like fish, frogs, crustaceans or mollusks.
- reproductive system: The system in an organism that aids in the production of new individuals.
- fungi: The Fungi are a kingdom separate from plants and animals. Like animals, a fungus (or fungi – plural) is an organism that cannot make its own food. It can be multicellular such as mushrooms and moulds, or unicellular such as yeasts. Fungi may be decomposers, parasites, or mutualists (helping plants to grow).
- larva: An immature form that some animals (such as insects, crustaceans and amphibians) pass through before metamorphosing into an adult form.
- scale insects: A family of insects that generally feed directly on the sap produced by plants.
- ecosystem: An interacting system including the biological, physical, and chemical relationships between a community of organisms and the environment they live in.
- plastic: A synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers (such as polyethylene, PVC and nylon) that can be moulded into shape while soft and then set into a rigid or slightly elastic form.