---
title: "Drawing Life Cycle Diagrams"
description: "Draw and interpret life cycle diagrams for flowering plants, insects (complete and incomplete metamorphosis), birds, and mammals, labelling stages, describing transitions, and comparing cycles across "
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/drawing-life-cycle-diagrams-mt_7EqhgErJyU
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/drawing-life-cycle-diagrams-mt_7EqhgErJyU.md
retrieved: 2026-11-12
---

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# Drawing Life Cycle Diagrams

Draw and interpret life cycle diagrams for flowering plants, insects (complete and incomplete metamorphosis), birds, and mammals, labelling stages, describing transitions, and comparing cycles across species

Subject: Science · Area: Organisms & Life Processes · Ages 7 to 8
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/drawing-life-cycle-diagrams-mt_7EqhgErJyU

## Ready when they can

- Draw a labelled life cycle diagram for a flowering plant including seed, seedling, mature plant, and flower/fruit
- Compare a butterfly life cycle (complete metamorphosis) with a grasshopper life cycle (incomplete metamorphosis) using diagrams
- Label a blank life cycle diagram for a given organism correctly, including transitions between stages

## Lesson: Drawing Life Cycle Diagrams

A life cycle diagram is a picture that shows how a living thing grows and changes over its whole life. Most life cycles are drawn as a circle with arrows, because when a living thing grows up, it often makes new babies, and the cycle starts again.

*(drawing: A flowering plant's life cycle in order: a seed grows into a seedling, then a full plant, then a flower that makes new seeds.)*

**Example.** A butterfly's life cycle has four very different-looking stages. It hatches from an egg into a caterpillar, which eats and grows. The caterpillar then forms a chrysalis, where its whole body changes shape inside. Finally, a butterfly comes out. This big body change is called complete metamorphosis.

A grasshopper's life cycle is different. It hatches from an egg into a nymph, which already looks like a tiny wingless grasshopper. The nymph molts its skin and slowly grows wings until it becomes an adult. There is no chrysalis stage at all. This is called incomplete metamorphosis.

**Tip.** When you draw a life cycle diagram, use arrows to show which stage comes next. The last arrow usually loops back to the first stage, because a new generation begins the cycle again.

**Recap.** A life cycle diagram uses labelled stages and arrows to show how a living thing grows, changes, and starts the cycle again.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Animal Life Stages](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/animal-life-stages-mt_oR6dwRj2Ll)

## Opens up

- [Life Cycles of Organisms](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/life-cycles-of-organisms-mt_4IVWRAZoNC)