Lesson 2
What is ‘growing and changing’?
Home > Science England > Year 2 Science England > Unit 3 – Animals, Including Humans England > Lesson 2 – What is ‘growing and changing’?

Lesson Plan
Preparation
Pupils can bring in a picture of themselves as a baby before the lesson. The class can try to guess who belongs to each picture.
Curriculum links
Animals, including Humans
- Notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults.
Suggested teaching strategies
- Use the turn and talk strategy to encourage pupils to think about how they have already grown and changed.
Introduction
If pupils have brought in pictures of themselves as babies, start with a game where the class guesses whose photo belongs to who.
Display the digital lesson on your smartboard to introduce growth and change.
The summary and worksheet pages should be used together.
Development
Provide pupils with the summary and worksheet to complete.
The aim of the investigation worksheet is for pupils to understand some ways change and growth in living things can be observed, measured and recorded.
Differentiation
- Use real images of a five-month-old rabbit and a one-year-old rabbit to support pupils to complete the final column of the experiment table.
- As an extension to this lesson, pupils could predict the changes in their diet, abilities and appearance that will happen as they change and grow.
Conclusion
Discuss the answers to the investigation worksheet’s table as a class, especially the fifth item (behaviour).
Assessment
Worksheet answers
1. When living things grow, they get heavier and taller, and change. They can usually do more things and look different.
2. Teacher check. Answers might include the tree has grown taller, has more branches, has more leaves, is heavier and has flowers.
3. Teacher check. Answers might include same eye colour, same number of fingers/toes/limbs, same hair colour, same skin colour.
4. 2, 1, 4, 3
5. (a) Answers should indicate their hands are bigger, their fingers longer, maybe the skin is a little rougher. (b) No.
6. Pupils should respond that they have not changed in exactly the same way. One pupil might be taller or shorter, have lost more or less teeth, have longer hair, weigh more or less, have bigger or smaller feet.
The uses and implications of science question
An animal scientist or zoologist studies animals.
Investigation worksheet answers
1. (a) a ruler or tape measure (b) scales
2. Teacher check: drawings, photographs, videos, labelled diagram
3. Teacher check. As it is an adult, it will probably not grow much more in length. It might continue to grow in weight, its behaviour might change as it gets older, its diet should stay the same.
Preparation
Pupils can bring in a picture of themselves as a baby before the lesson. The class can try to guess who belongs to each picture.
Curriculum links
Animals, including Humans
- Notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults.
Suggested teaching strategies
- Use the turn and talk strategy to encourage pupils to think about how they have already grown and changed.
Introduction
If pupils have brought in pictures of themselves as babies, start with a game where the class guesses whose photo belongs to who.
Display the digital lesson on your smartboard to introduce growth and change.
The summary and worksheet pages should be used together.
Development
Provide pupils with the summary and worksheet to complete.
The aim of the investigation worksheet is for pupils to understand some ways change and growth in living things can be observed, measured and recorded.
Differentiation
- Use real images of a five-month-old rabbit and a one-year-old rabbit to support pupils to complete the final column of the experiment table.
- As an extension to this lesson, pupils could predict the changes in their diet, abilities and appearance that will happen as they change and grow.
Conclusion
Discuss the answers to the investigation worksheet’s table as a class, especially the fifth item (behaviour).
Assessment
Worksheet answers
1. When living things grow, they get heavier and taller, and change. They can usually do more things and look different.
2. Teacher check. Answers might include the tree has grown taller, has more branches, has more leaves, is heavier and has flowers.
3. Teacher check. Answers might include same eye colour, same number of fingers/toes/limbs, same hair colour, same skin colour.
4. 2, 1, 4, 3
5. (a) Answers should indicate their hands are bigger, their fingers longer, maybe the skin is a little rougher. (b) No.
6. Pupils should respond that they have not changed in exactly the same way. One pupil might be taller or shorter, have lost more or less teeth, have longer hair, weigh more or less, have bigger or smaller feet.
The uses and implications of science question
An animal scientist or zoologist studies animals.
Investigation worksheet answers
1. (a) a ruler or tape measure (b) scales
2. Teacher check: drawings, photographs, videos, labelled diagram
3. Teacher check. As it is an adult, it will probably not grow much more in length. It might continue to grow in weight, its behaviour might change as it gets older, its diet should stay the same.

Student Pages















Lesson 5
What is ‘growing and changing’?

Lesson 5
What is ‘growing and changing’?


Plants, animals and people usually get heavier and taller as they go through life.
This is called growing.


Some plants and animals grow quickly, others take a long time.



sprout



forest
As living things grow, they also change.
They look different and do different things.


Barley field


Oak tree

Some things change quickly, some things take a long time; some things change a lot and others only a little.


You have grown from a baby to a child.
You look different and are able to do more than you could when you were a newborn.




As long as you have the things you need (water, food, shelter, clothing, love and air) you will keep growing and changing until you die.


How have you already grown and changed?




You have more hair.
You might look more like one of your parents.



You have grown teeth (and maybe lost
some, too).
You know and can say thousands of words.



Your body parts look different.
Your hands, arms and legs can do more things.





You are much heavier and taller.
You have stronger muscles.


Lesson 5
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Student Summary
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Worksheet
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