Life cycles – Wiggle and Crawl

Using the museum’s very old but beautiful and delicate collections of bees and butterflies, students will learn the importance of pollinators to our environment and how they play a huge part in our life on earth. Explore their life cycles, anatomy, and the difference between butterflies and moths and bees and wasps!

Session aim

• To identify and remember the life cycles, anatomy and importance of butterflies, moths, bees, and wasps.

Session objectives

• To identify and name insect body parts.
• To recall the life cycle of certain insects.
• To remember the important role of insects as pollinators and their importance to food production and life on earth.

Curriculum links (Department for Education)

• Gross Motor Skills: “Move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping and climbing.”
• The Natural World: “Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter.”
• The Natural World: “Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants”.
• Creating with Materials: “Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function”.
• Creating with Materials: “Make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narratives and stories”.
• Science: “identify and name a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals”.
• Science: “describe and compare the structure of a variety of common animals (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, including pets)”.
• Science: “notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults”.
• Science: “find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival (water, food and air)”.