Background

A life cycle depicts the changes a living thing goes through during its life. In some cases, this process is slow and gradual but in others the process is quick. Mayflies have the shortest life cycle on Earth. Their life only lasts 24 hours, but some species only last a few hours.

This program is conducted at Ecolinc and Serendip Sanctuary, Lara. Your bus will need to arrive at Serendip at 9.30am. Your bus will transport students back to Ecolinc, and the program will conclude at 2.30pm from Bacchus Marsh. Maximum number of students for this program is 50 per day.

Learning Intentions

In this activity students will:

• Define the term life cycle
• Identify and compare the life cycle of a frog, insect, bird, mammal and reptile
• Create an environment around the life cycle of an insect.

Activities

At Serendip Sanctuary, students will participate in a tour of the wetland, grassland and grassy woodland. Students will explore the habitats, the animals and discuss their life cycles. At Ecolinc students will undertake 2 x 1 hour workshops, which focus on the life cycle of frogs and spiny leaf insects. The day is outlined below:

Victorian Curriculum

• Living things can be grouped on the basis of observable features and can be distinguished from non-living things (VCSSU057 [1])
• Different living things have different life cycles and depend on each other and the environment to survive (VCSSU058 [2])

Outreach

Ecolinc offers the following outreach option:

• Macro lifecycles