Teaching Life Cycles of Living Organisms
Clock Graphic Organizers Aid for Science Class
May 24, 2009
Clock graphic organizers show how events are related in relation to time or cycles. Clock diagrams are a great resource to show the relationship from one event to another. The life of a caterpillar to a butterfly is a common life cycle illustrated with a clock graphic organizer.
The base of a clock organizer is a circle. Many options are available in creating the template for the clock organizer. Print outs and paper plates are just two options to create the base of a clock.
Once the base of the clock is created, divide the clock into segments similar to a 12 hour analog clock. The number of segments on the clock are based on the number of cycles for the specific living organism. For example, a butterfly has four life cycles but a human has nine life cycles.
Mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, birds, and other invertebrates all have an individual life cycle. Each of their life cycles can be represented on a clock graphic organizer. The clock organizer is a good aid for elementary and high school science classes. Its simplicity illustrates how a life cycle is continuous for a living organism to grow into an adult organism.
Butterfly Life Cycle Example
Butterflies go through four stages of life development. Egg, larva, pupa, and adult are the four stages of a caterpillar's life. Clock organizers are a wonderful tool to illustrate each section and to show that the cycle is continuous.
Create the life cycle organizer by folding a circle in half and then in half again. After the folding, unfold and the circle will be divided into four congruent parts. Trace the lines with a marker to highlight the four sectors. Egg is illustrated in the first sector (top right), larva, second sector (bottom right), pupa, third sector (bottom left), and butterfly, fourth sector (top left). Clock organizer clearly illustrates the different life cycles for a butterfly.
No matter the life cycle of a living organism, it can be illustrated on a clock diagram because you can divide it into many sectors. Elephant may be divided into 22 sectors because the life cycle is 22 months, while their is 5 stages for a frog.
Clock graphic organizers are best used to illustrate the relation between time and cycles. Students can quickly divide a circle into fractional parts to present the different life cycles of an organism. As well, they are great to display on bulletin boards and they are a good study aid.
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