Life Cycle Worksheets

10 free PDFsUS Letter PDFsAnswer key includedNo login

Order the stages of butterfly, frog and bean plant life cycles, compare complete and incomplete metamorphosis, and see what all life cycles share.

Download the life cycles worksheets

All about life cycles

A poster that compares four life cycles and names what they share.

  • Preview of the printable “Life cycles poster for 3rd grade” worksheet: describing the life cycle stages all living things share: birth, growth, reproduction and deathView larger

    Life cycles poster for 3rd grade

    Describing the life cycle stages all living things share: birth, growth, reproduction and death

    1 page113 KB

Put the stages in order

Butterfly (cut and paste and a no-cut twin), frog and bean plant life cycles.

Compare life cycles

A butterfly and cricket Venn diagram, a chart of five life cycles and a frog reading passage.

  • Preview of the printable “Complete and incomplete metamorphosis venn diagram” worksheet: comparing complete metamorphosis (butterfly) with incomplete metamorphosis (cricket)View all 2 pages

    Complete and incomplete metamorphosis venn diagram

    Comparing complete metamorphosis (butterfly) with incomplete metamorphosis (cricket)

    Answer key on page 2

    2 pages41 KB

  • Preview of the printable “Compare animal and plant life cycles chart” worksheet: comparing the life cycles of different plants and animalsView all 2 pages

    Compare animal and plant life cycles chart

    Comparing the life cycles of different plants and animals

    Answer key on page 2

    2 pages263 KB

  • Preview of the printable “Frog life cycle reading passage for 3rd grade” worksheet: reading an informational passage about the stages of a frog’s life cycleView all 2 pages

    Frog life cycle reading passage for 3rd grade

    Reading an informational passage about the stages of a frog’s life cycle

    Answer key on page 2

    2 pages55 KB

Words and review

Vocabulary in context and a quick check.

About these life cycles worksheets

Every living thing has a life cycle, and no two are quite the same. A butterfly changes completely, a cricket grows up looking like a small adult, a frog starts life in water and a bean plant makes seeds that start the cycle again. Yet all of them are born, grow, reproduce and die.

These 3rd grade life cycle worksheets use clear line pictures to order the stages of butterfly, frog and bean plant life cycles, compare complete and incomplete metamorphosis on a Venn diagram, and chart how different plants and animals begin life and change as they grow.

Every page is black and white, prints on US Letter or A4, and every page with right answers has an answer key on page 2.

Standards

  • NGSS 3-LS1-1Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.3Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.4Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.

How to use them

  1. Start with the poster: what is the same about every life cycle, and what is different?
  2. Use the butterfly cut and paste page or its no-cut twin, then the frog and bean plant pages.
  3. Raise caterpillars or grow beans in class and match what you see to the stages on the sheets.
  4. Use the Venn diagram to compare the butterfly and the cricket.
  5. Read From Egg to Frog, then finish with the chart and the quiz.

Teaching tips

  • Complete metamorphosis has four stages: egg, larva, pupa, adult. Incomplete metamorphosis has three: egg, nymph, adult.
  • A chrysalis is the pupa of a butterfly. Moths spin cocoons.
  • A plant’s life cycle includes reproduction too: flowers make seeds.
  • Times on the frog passage vary by kind of frog and water temperature.
  • Encourage the four shared words: birth, growth, reproduction, death.

Questions teachers and parents ask

What do all life cycles have in common?

Every plant and animal life cycle includes birth (or a seed sprouting), growth, reproduction and death.

What is the difference between complete and incomplete metamorphosis?

In complete metamorphosis (butterflies, beetles) the young look very different from the adult and go through a pupa stage. In incomplete metamorphosis (crickets, grasshoppers) the young, called nymphs, look like small adults without wings.

Do you have kindergarten life cycle pages too?

Yes. Simpler pages for younger children are on the butterfly, frog, plant, pumpkin, apple and chicken life cycle pages.