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How Animals Have Babies

Know that different animals have their babies in different ways — some lay eggs (birds, reptiles, fish, insects), some give birth to live young (most mammals) — and that babies may look like miniature adults or look very different from their parents

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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)
  • Shows curiosity about how different animals have their babies

The lesson

Animals make babies in two main ways. Some lay eggs. The baby grows inside the egg, then hatches out. Other animals do not lay eggs. Their babies are born alive, no egg needed.

Try it together

A robin lays her eggs in a nest. She sits on them to keep them warm. One day, the eggs hatch. Baby birds peck their way out.

Tap each dot and count out loud.
eggtadpolefrog
A frog starts as an egg, then a tadpole, then a frog. The tadpole looks nothing like its frog parent.
Good to know

Not all babies look like their parents. A caterpillar turns into a butterfly, and looks totally different. But puppies already look like small dogs. Every animal is different.

Baby animals hatch from eggs or are born alive, and some change a lot as they grow.

Watch it

Where it sits

Where this leads

Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.

Then practise

8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.

How Animals Have Babies · Science, ages 5 to 7 · LightMySky