Hello, my name is Mrs. Mehrin.

I'm so excited to be learning with you today.

We are going to have such a great time learning all about insect life cycles.

We're going to do brilliantly.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit "Reproduction and Life Cycles: Animals." This lesson is called Insect Life Cycles, and by the end of today's lesson, we will be able to recognise insect life cycles and the similarities between them.

Some of the learning is going to be brand new, but I'm here to help you, and we are going to be building on your knowledge of amphibian life cycles from the previous lesson.

Sometimes learning can be a bit challenging, but that's really great, because it means that we can learn together, and we can work hard, and we can learn lots of new things.

Your lesson outcome today is to describe the stages in the life cycle of different insects.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

It's up to you if you'd like to pause the video here and jot them down, but I am going to be referring to them throughout the lesson.

Fantastic.

Well done.

And here are the meanings of those words.

Again, it's up to you.

You can pause the video, have a read through them, or you can jot down the meanings if you'd like.

But don't worry because I'm gonna refer back to them throughout the lesson, and I'm going to be explaining what they mean.

So if you'd like to pause the video here, you can do.

Brilliant.

Well done.

So our learning today is split into two sections.

Let's begin with the first part, insect life cycles.

So insects are cold-blooded,, invertebrate animals, that have six legs, a pair of antennae, and a segmented body in three parts.

Many insects also have one or two pairs of wings.

What do you already know about the life cycles of insects? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, or you can pause the video here if you'd like.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

Let's do a quick check of your understanding so far.

Which of these is not a characteristic of insects? A, that they're cold-blooded.

B, they are invertebrates.

C, they have segmented bodies in two parts, or D, they have six legs.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, or you can pause the video here if you like.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is C, segmented body in two parts.

So insect life cycles begin with eggs.

So here you can see insect eggs.

Insects usually lay lots of eggs at once, and that's similar to what we learned about amphibians and when they lay eggs.

When insect young hatch, they are called larvae.

So here we have ladybird larva and silkworm larvae.

The insect larvae eat lots to prepare for the next stage of their life cycle.

The next stage in the insect life cycle is the pupae.

The insect appears inactive during this stage.

A pupa is a protective casing, inside which the insect goes through a huge transformation.

This big change is called metamorphosis.

And here you have two pictures, a ladybird pupa, and a silk worm pupa.

When the insect has completed its metamorphosis inside the pupa, it emerges in a completely different form to the larva.

So here we have butterflies emerging from their pupa.

The insect is now in its adult stage, and it is able to reproduce by laying eggs.

So here you have an adult ladybird laying eggs, and an adult silkworm moth.

You've done lots of learning so far.

Let's see if we can use some of the learning that we've done to complete this activity.

It says, "Use the words to fill in the blanks.

You may not need to use all of the words." So you have a bank of words on the right hand side, and I'd like you to use some of these to fill in the blank spaces.

I'd like you to pause the video here and have a go at this activity.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

Let's see if you were correct.

An insect's life cycle begins with an egg.

When these hatch, a young insect called a larva comes out.

After some time spent eating lots of food, the insect then becomes a pupa.

Inside, the insect goes through a complete transformation, called metamorphosis.

When the insect emerges from its pupa, it is a fully grown adult, and is able to reproduce.

Well done.

You are doing so well.

So we can find out about insect life cycles by observing how insects reproduce and change over time.

So here is a picture of someone observing an insect.

So looking really close at it.

We can also learn about insect life cycles by carrying out research.

And here is a secondary source, all about insects.

So let's do a quick check-in.

The question says, how can we find out about insect life cycles? Now remember, when you're answering this question, there may be more than one correct answer.

Let's go through the options.

So is it A, drawing a diagram of an adult insect? B, observing insects over time? C, carrying out research using secondary sources? Or D, carrying out a fair test using insects? Now, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need longer, you can pause the video here.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is B and C, observing insects over time and carrying out research using secondary sources.

Well done.

So here is your first task that I'd like you to do.

I'd like you to choose an insect.

Now it can be any insect of your choice, and I'd like you to then research what it looks like at each stage in its life cycle.

I want you to use your findings to complete the table below.

So you may like to draw this into your exercise book or on a sheet of paper.

Then I want you to do some simple drawings of each stage, and then label the point where metamorphosis occurs.

So remember, metamorphosis is when an animal goes through a big change, where it goes from looking like one thing, to looking like something completely different.

So for example, a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

Now, I'd like you to label the four main parts, the egg, the larva, the pupa, and then the adult.

I want you to pause the video here and have a go at that.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So here's Andeep! And Andeep says, "I found out about the life cycle of an ant.

Which insect did you choose?" So let's take a good look at what Andeep has done.

He's drawn in the egg, and then the larva, then the pupa, and then finally the adult ant.

And he's labelled exactly where metamorphosis occurs.

So this is a fantastic table, with simple drawings of each stage.

I want you to have a look at what you've done.

Is it similar to what Andeep has done? Have you remembered to do the egg, the larva, the pupa, the adult, and then label where metamorphosis occurs? If you haven't, I'd like you to pause the video here, and have a go at adding in those extra details.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So that takes us on to the second part of our learning today, which is life cycle diagrams. So scientists create life cycle diagrams to show the stages in an animal's life cycle.

So if we take a look at the life cycle on the right hand side of our screen here, we can see that the four main parts of an insects life cycle is clearly labelled.

We have the egg, the larva, the pupa, and the adult.

And, most importantly as well, we have arrows to show the direction in which the life cycle goes, and that's really, really important to include.

Now the diagram shows each stage and the order they come in from birth to adult.

So I'd like you to have a look at this life cycle diagram below, and I want you to think about what's missing from this diagram.

I'm going to give you five seconds to think about your answer, or if you think you're going to need longer, you can pause the video here.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

Let's see what was missing.

It was the arrows.

So the arrows are missing from the diagram, and these are needed to show the direction the life cycle moves in.

They are so important.

Now, insects come in lots of different shapes and sizes, but they have the same characteristics, and most have the same life cycle stages.

So we have a ladybird and a butterfly.

Let's take a look at their life cycle diagrams. Can you spot any similarities between the Ladybird and butterfly life cycles? I want you to observe really closely.

So I'd like you to pause the video here, and have a go at looking for the similarities between them both.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So you may have said that they include all four of the main stages of the life cycle.

The egg, the larva, the pupa, and then the adult.

They also include the important arrows, which show us the order of the life cycle.

We can see that the pupa is where metamorphosis is occurring in both of these insects as well.

So there's many similarities between them.

Well done.

So let's do a quick check before we move on with your learning.

Which of these is not a similarity shared by most insect life cycles? So which of these is not a similarity shared by most insect life cycles? Is it A, egg, B, larva, C, hatchling, or D, metamorphosis? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need longer, you can pause the video here.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is C, hatchling.

Well done.

So here is task B.

I'd like you to create your own insect.

Now, it can be completely imagined, or you can take inspiration from real animals.

So you may like to maybe combine two insects and create your own one, or it can be completely made up.

It's up to you.

I'd like you to complete and label a life cycle diagram for your insect.

So think about what the first stage is going to be, what's going to be next, what's going to come after that, and what is the final stage going to be? So remember our key words that we're going to be using for this diagram.

We've got egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

So I'd like you to pause the video here, and have a go.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done! So, I'd like you to now make some notes describing how your insect has all of the characteristics of insects, and goes through each stage of the insect life cycle.

So make sure that you have clearly labelled which is the egg, which is the larva, which is the pupa, and which one is the adult.

Make sure that you've got all four of those stages as well, in your life cycle.

So when you've done that, I'd like you to then think about, does your insect have six legs? Is your insect's body segmented into three parts? And does it have a pair of antennae? So I'd like you to pause the video here, go through the checklist really carefully, and make sure that you've included all of those really important parts.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So here is Izzy.

And Izzy has been doing the activity that you've just done, and she says, "Here is the life cycle diagram for my lightning bug.

Does your insect's life cycle have any similarities to mine?" So let's take a look at Izzy's life cycle diagram.

She started with the egg, and from the egg has come the larva.

Then the larva has become the pupa, and then the pupa has become the adult.

Also, we can see that metamorphosis has occurred in the pupa, because the larva looks very very different to the adult.

Now I wonder where Izzy has taken her inspiration from for her insect.

Have a look and see if you can spot any insects that she might have taken inspiration from.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done! Now I think Izzy may have taken inspiration from a butterfly, possibly even an ant! So Izzy says, "My insect is called a lightning bug.

It has six legs and a segmented body in three parts.

The eggs are orange and the larvae are black.

It's pupae are shaped like a lightning bolt, and the adults have bright yellow wings like a butterfly." Jacob says, "My insect is called a box beetle.

It has three rectangular parts to its body, and six jointed legs.

The eggs and the larvae are green, so they are camouflaged on leaves.

Its pupae are box-shaped, and after metamorphosis, the adults have a cube shaped shell." Now if you like, you can pause the video here, and maybe have a go at drawing the life cycle that Jacob is speaking about, based on his description.

I wonder what you'd get.

So if you'd like, you can pause the video here, or you can continue with your learning.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So here is the end of our learning, so let's go through the summary.

Insects are animals.

They are living things that grow and reproduce.

Many insects undergo a complete change in form, called metamorphosis.

We can find out about insect life cycles by observing them over time, or carrying out research.

Scientific diagrams are used to show the stages in an insect's life cycle.

And remember the four main parts of an insect's life cycle.

The egg, the larva, the pupa, and the adult.

Well done.

I have had such a fantastic time learning all about insect life cycles with you all.

You have done some critical thinking and lots of hard work.

I know there's been lots of information for you today, but you have done brilliantly.

Well done.