How Animals Have Babies
Know that animals have babies in different ways. Birds and turtles lay eggs, while most mammals give birth to live young. Some babies look like small adults. Others, such as tadpoles, look very different from their parents.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Gives examples of animals that lay eggs and animals that give birth to live young
- Describes at least one example of a baby that looks different from its parent (e.g., tadpole/frog, caterpillar/butterfly)
- Asks a question about how an animal has babies or how its babies grow
1 · Read
Some animals lay eggs. A baby can grow inside an egg and hatch, or come out. Chickens, ducks, robins and turtles lay eggs. Frog eggs hatch into tadpoles. Dogs, cats and cows give birth to live puppies, kittens and calves. These babies grow inside their mothers before birth. To sort babies, check how each is born. Not every egg contains a growing baby or will hatch.
A robin lays eggs in a nest. She sits on them to keep them warm while baby birds grow inside. When a baby bird is ready to hatch, it pecks and breaks the shell to come out.
A frog's egg hatches into a tadpole. A young tadpole has a tail and no legs. Legs develop and the tail shrinks as it becomes a frog. It looks very different from its parent. Puppies and kittens already look like small dogs and cats. They grow bigger with the same basic body shape. To check a claim about every baby, find an example that does not fit.
A butterfly lays eggs. A caterpillar hatches from an egg, grows and becomes a pupa. Later, a butterfly comes out of the pupa. The crawling caterpillar has no wings. The butterfly has wings. Some other caterpillars become moths, so it helps to know which animal you are learning about.
Questions help us learn about animal babies. Does this animal lay eggs? What does its baby look like? Ask an adult to help you check an animal book. Use the animal's exact name. Some kinds of snakes lay eggs. Other kinds give birth to live babies.
Imagine 4 turtle eggs. Each has one baby inside, and all 4 hatch. Count one baby for each egg: 1, 2, 3, 4. There are 4 babies. The dots below are counters for the 4 eggs. They are not pictures of eggs or turtles.
Baby animals hatch from eggs or are born alive, and some change a lot as they grow.
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More to read
An egg does not always hatch
A chick can grow inside a chicken's egg. It needs warmth as it grows. A hen can provide that warmth by sitting on the egg. When ready, the chick breaks the shell and comes out. Some eggs have no growing chick inside. Even an egg with a growing chick may not hatch. Finding an egg does not tell us what will happen.
Following one animal as it grows
A butterfly's caterpillar has no wings. As it grows, it reaches a stage called a pupa. Later, a butterfly comes out with wings. It is the same animal at a later stage. A frog also changes as it grows. Its young tadpole has a tail and no legs. Legs develop and the tail shrinks. A very different look can still belong to the same growing animal.
Live babies keep growing
Dogs, cats and hamsters give birth to live babies. These babies grow inside their mothers before birth. After birth, they drink their mothers' milk and keep growing. A puppy is still a dog, and a kitten is still a cat. You can learn about babies by watching from a distance. Ask an adult before going near an animal or its young.
2 · Watch
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Where this leads
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