Week 2 Lab- Life Cycles



Week 2 Life Cycles


What question are we investigating?

The questions that we investigated this week were, What do all life cycles have in common? What kinds of structures and functions support a life cycle?

What did we do in lab to investigate this question?

We did several different activities to investigate these questions in lab beginning with analyzing meal worms. Each group received a petri dish full of mealworms and as a group, we had to try and analyze what part of the life cycle they were at. After doing so, each group was asked to make a life cycle. Our group came up with the cycle beginning with eggs, to larva, to pupa, then to bug or beetle. We observed how the mealworms structure changes and shifts completely throughout its life cycle. We then observed and analyzed Wisconsin fast plants that were in petri dishes at each of the different stages of growth in their cycle. We added that to our life cycle as well along with the mealworms. 



What did we figure out?

After observing and analyzing the organisms in person we found out that there is a lot more that goes into life cycles than we first expected. Our group came up with four different stages that every organism goes through in their life cycle. Birth, growth, adolescents, then adulthood. Being able to see the mealworms in the different stages really allowed us to understand the cycle and how it restarts after the death of the organism with a new organism that was fertilized by them. 

What are new or remaining question after the investigation?

The one question I still have is that does the essence of this life cycle apply to all living things?

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