Questions: Metamorphosis

Question 1

What is the correct order of a butterfly's life cycle?

• A. Butterfly, caterpillar, egg, chrysalis
• B. Egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly
• C. Caterpillar, egg, butterfly, chrysalis
• D. Egg, butterfly, caterpillar, chrysalis

Answer: (B)

A butterfly starts as an egg. The egg hatches into a caterpillar (larva), which eats and grows. The caterpillar forms a chrysalis (pupa) around itself. Inside the chrysalis, its body completely changes, and a butterfly emerges. Egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly.

Question 2

A tadpole and a frog are two different animals.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

A tadpole and a frog are the same animal at different stages of life. The tadpole is the young stage — it has a tail and lives in water. As it grows, it develops legs, its tail shrinks, and it becomes a frog that can live on land. This change is metamorphosis.

Question 3

How is metamorphosis different from the way a puppy grows into a dog?

Model answer: In metamorphosis, the animal's body changes shape completely — a caterpillar looks nothing like a butterfly. A puppy just gets bigger but always looks like a dog.

When a puppy grows into a dog, it gets bigger and stronger but keeps the same basic body shape — four legs, a tail, fur. In metamorphosis, the animal's body is completely rebuilt. A caterpillar has many legs and crawls; a butterfly has wings and flies. The change is dramatic, not gradual.