| In "Life Cycles," students
reinforce their study of the reproduction, developmental stages, inherited
characteristics, and variations of plants and animals with catchy songs and funny
dialogue. Butterflies, frogs, and mice never sounded so good! "Life
Cycles" covers the following basic aspects of the biological sciences: metamorphosis;
the food chain; shared characteristics; the plant cycle; nourishment (water, food, light);
adaptation to the environment.
Click here
to see the vocabulary terms.
Song List
Click on the song name to
hear samples in mp3 format. Please note that internet song samples have low fidelity and
rest assured that the CDs we sell sound much better. Problems hearing the music? Visit our
Audio Help page.
CHARACTERS:
FLEXIBLE
CASTING:
From 8-40 students.
Use as many fish, rabbits, butterflies, etc as you wish. All parts can easily be played by
either girls or boys. |
HOSTS
BUTTERFLIES
FISH
RABBITS
TADPOLES
PLANTS
SNAKES
BIOLOGISTS
GARDENERS
FOREST PLANTS and ANIMALS
ZOO KEEPERS
and a CHORUS comprised of all students who are not playing roles on stage at the time.
(CLASS enters and faces audience)
CLASS:
Here's our show about some life cycles Song 1
How plants and critters grow
Here's our show about some life cycles
We'll tell you what we know.
We've been learning such a lot lately
Our brains are gonna sprout
Here's our show about some life cycles
It's gonna knock you out.
We are talking 'bout the stages
As an organism ages
And the changes it goes through
It's a basic introduction
From the birth to reproduction
And we're singing it for you.
Here's our show about some life cycles
How plants and critters grow
Here's our show about some life cycles
We'll tell you what we know.
Woh-oh.
HOST #1: Good afternoon [morning/evening]. Welcome to "Know Your Life
Cycles."
HOST #2: Let's get started up close and personal with a look at the life cycle of
a monarch butterfly.
HOST #3: We're here on milkwood leaf with some recently laid butterfly eggs.
HOST #1 (to BUTTERFLIES): Tell us---how's the cycle going?
BUTTERFLIES: Song 2
I don't wanna grow up
I like it here in my egg
Don't have to brush my teeth
Don't have to clean my leaf.
I don't wanna grow up
I guess I don't have a choice
Bustin' out from our eggs
Look ma we all got legs!
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis
Don't know why or how
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis
We're caterpillars now.
I don't wanna grow up
I like it here on my leaf
Munching on this milkwood
Us teenagers have it good.
I don't wanna grow up
I guess I don't have a choice
Spinning all afternoon
Trapped here in this cocoon.
BUTTERFLIES and CHORUS:
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis
Don't know why or how
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis
The chrysalis stage now.
BUTTERFLIES:
Guess it's time to grow up
I wanna spread my new wings
Time now to blow this town
Tired of hanging around.
Glad I finally grew up
Hey look at me I'm a beaut
Look ma I got a tongue
Nectar yeah here I come!
BUTTERFLIES and CHORUS:
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis
Don't know why or how
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis
We're butterflying now.
We're butterflying now.
(BUTTERFLIES exit. FISH, TADPOLES, RABBITS, and PLANTS enter, glancing cautiously all
around.)
HOST #2: Wasn't that fascinating?
HOST #3: We're here now with some plants and animals.
(to ANIMALS and PLANTS)
Excuse me---you're looking a little nervous. Is everything all right?
FISH: It's the food chain.
RABBITS (scream in terror): The FOOD CHAIN! Run for your lives!!
(RABBITS start racing around crazily)
TADPOLE (after a few seconds): Stop that!
(RABBITS stop)
We're just TALKING about the food chain.
RABBITS: Oh. Sorry.
PLANT: We're all a bit on edge. It's this predator and prey thing---eat or be eaten.
FISH: It makes it very hard to relax and enjoy a good book.
FISH, TADPOLES, RABBITS, PLANTS: Song 3
Predator or prey?
Which is it today?
It's a nervous game we play
Predator, predator or prey?
FISH:
I'm a fish and I have found a rule that must be followed
To swallow other fish is much more fun than being swallowed.
TADPOLES:
I'm a little tadpole and I rarely am the winner
I try to dine but soon I find I'm someone else's dinner.
FISH, TADPOLES, RABBITS, PLANTS:
Predator or prey?
Which is it today?
It's a nervous game we play
Predator, predator or prey?
RABBITS:
We are rabbits and it seems the world is out to get us
We're terrified by everything---look out, here comes some lettuce!
PLANTS:
We are plants and have you noticed how the food chain treats us?
Here at the bottom of the food chain---everybody eats us!
FISH, TADPOLES, RABBITS, PLANTS, and CHORUS:
Predator or prey?
Which is it today?
It's a nervous game we play
Predator, predator or prey?
Predator, predator or prey?
(FISH, TADPOLES, RABBITS, and PLANTS exit. BIOLOGISTS enter.)
HOST #1:
We're lucky to have with us on the show some famous biologists.
HOST #2: They'll help explain some of the mysteries of the life cycle. So tell us...
(HOST is interrupted by SNAKES rushing onto the stage)
SNAKE #1: Look out, snakes coming through.
SNAKE #2: Pardon us, pardon us. We're migrating.
BIOLOGIST #1 and #2: Snakes! I HATE snakes!
(SNAKES stop)
HOST #3: I thought biologists liked animals.
BIOLOGIST #1: We do. But snakes. Yech!
SNAKE #1: We get that all the time.
SNAKE #2: We feel the same way about biologists.
(SNAKES start to exit)
SNAKE #1: Yeah. They just sort of sneak up on you.
SNAKE #2: And they're so slimy to touch.
(SNAKES exit)
BIOLOGIST #2 (shouting after SNAKES): Oh yeah? Well snakes don't migrate!
SNAKES (from off stage): Just watch us, big shot!
HOST #1 (to BIOLOGISTS): So, tell our audience: how can you tell what kind of offspring
a plant or animal will have?
BIOLOGIST #1: That's an easy one.
BIOLOGIST #2: You're talking about shared characteristics.
BIOLOGISTS:
Song 4
A cat will have kittens
A mouse will have mice
A fish will have fishes
A louse will have lice.
An eagle has eaglets
A dog will have dogs
They're puppies not guppies or wet pollywogs.
Offspring resemble their parents
Animals flowers and fruit
Offspring resemble their parents
Thank goodness all parents are cute
Thank goodness all parents are cute.
The seeds from your apples
Become apple trees
And daisies make daisies
And peas produce peas.
An oak was an acorn
In its early days
A carrot inherits its carrot-like ways.
BIOLOGISTS and CHORUS:
Offspring resemble their parents
Animals flowers and fruit
Offspring resemble their parents
Thank goodness all parents are cute
Thank goodness all parents are cute.
Top of Page
stages
chrysalis
tadpoles
stamen
blossom
hibernation
ice-age
toxin
organism
nectar
migration
pollywogs
adaptation
pollution |
environmental niche
soil
acclimation
gills
reproduction
predator
offspring
kumquat
seedling
photosynthesis
global warming
extinction
cocoon
prey
guppies
pollination
leafage |
General
Vocabulary Building (words and phrases)
warble
knock you out
on edge
in your dreams
wraps up
paranoid
blow this town
big shot
common ground
a dud
motto
beaut
The Man
got flare
|
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Teacher Reviews:
"Just performed in our school garden by our third graders this
week. Great songs---lyrics teach/reinforce concepts and music is fun. They loved it!"
---Beth Riggs, Teacher (3rd grade) Orchard School, Rio Linda, CA
"Excellent. Kids loved it!"
---Elizabeth Moyer, Teacher (2nd grade) Stone Ranch School, San Diego, CA
"We had a great time putting on the show (this is my 5th show
in two years with second grade!) The songs are a little more difficult in the play, but
all all your plays, once you learn them then you can't get them out of your head for
weeks."
---Meredith Fisher, Teacher (2nd grade) Evergreen Charter School, Asheville, NC
"We loved it; the tips included were useful. Thanks for making
to so easy, fun and successful for the students and me! This play went hand in hand with
our science standards. Thanks for making learning fun."
---Nancy Murray, Teacher (2nd grade) Sandpiper School, Redwood Shores, CA
"I really liked it. Every student was able to shine for their
own song. It was academic so we were able to combine the play with what were learning in
science. Many teachers in our audience commented on the great dialogue. Kids loved the
butterflies as they metamorphosized. We had simple, simple costumes. The animals vs.
plants song was a huge hit! I can't stop singing 'Predator or Prey.' It really reinforced
what we had been learning."
---Judy Burgenbauch, Teacher (2nd grade) Mammoth Elementary, Mammoth Lakes, CA
To submit your own review, just e-mail it to ron@badwolfpress.com Be sure to include
your school name and what grade you teach.
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Two of You are Planning to
Put the Play on Together??
If you ask us, we always suggest having just one class put on a play. We
think each kid is more involved, and we think it's easier for you to deal with a smaller
number of students.
But lots of teachers disagree with us.
They've been happily doing the plays together for years.
In fact, Amy Anderson, the teacher who does four musicals a year (and she talks about this on our home page) thinks two classes
together is the way to go.
Then what do I need to purchase?
Think of a musical play like a library book. Only one teacher may "check out"
(i.e. put on) the play at a time. If another teacher wants to produce the music play that
you purchased in a separate production and at a later date, you may loan
out your original plan and student copies.
Your "library" needs two copies of the play for two teachers to
put on the play at the same time. If a teacher wants her class to put on the play with
your class, she needs to buy her own copy of the play. For three or more teachers
to produce a play together, purchase three copies for your "library" and Bad
Wolf extends a Site License for all the teachers and
classes at your school.
But why can't I just make extra copies of
the play? If copies are made for a class other than the purchasing
teacher's, it's an infringement of U.S. copyright law. Yikes! Bad Wolf
likes to toe the line where Uncle Sam is concerned, so we offer a discount on the purchase
of multiple copies of the play.
If you are 2 teachers putting on the play
together...................................$60
* Includes 2 copies of the book and CD (save almost $20 off of
buying
them separately) so each of you has a CD and
book to work with.
* Free bonus: We'll throw in our famed
"Earthworms on Parade" CD. Y'know,
that's the one with the six
goofiest songs about earthworms ever written
($9.95 value.)
* Includes the right to reproduce the
script for the students in both of
your individual classes.
Questions? Call or email Ron Fink at (888) 827-8661 or ron@badwolfpress.com
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