Year 5 Science · Growing up to old age · Lesson 4.1

Year 5 Science: The five stages of life

Part of the Year 5 Science growing up to old age chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

4.1

The five stages of life

Year 5
A1: describe the changes as humans develop to old age, from babyhood to old age

Story. Sam looks at old family photographs. There is a picture of him as a baby, a photo of him at school, a photo of his cousin at a party, and a picture of his grandad, who is now in his seventies. “People change a lot as they grow,” says Sam’s mum.

Each stage has its own changes. The changes happen gradually, and every person is different.

Five simple figures, from babyhood to old age, in order. The figures are schematic, not to scale.

What happens	Stage of life
grows very quickly and needs an adult to feed and care for it	babyhood
learns to speak, to read and to write at school	childhood
a growth spurt, and the voice changes	puberty
the body has stopped growing taller, usually	adulthood
skin wrinkles, and hair may turn grey or white	old age

Key ideas

Humans go through five stages: babyhood, childhood, puberty, adulthood and old age.
Babyhood is the first stage, and the body grows very quickly.
Puberty is the stage when the body changes, on the way to adulthood.
Adults have usually finished growing, and old age brings changes to the body.

Worked example 4.1.1

Which stage of life comes first? Write the word.

Method. Read the stages in order.

Read the list. The list in section 4.1 starts with babyhood.
babyhood first
Name the stage. So the first stage is babyhood.
babyhood
Write the answer.
babyhood

Check. Babyhood begins at birth. ✓

Worked example 4.1.2

Which stage comes after childhood? Write the word.

Method. Find childhood in the list.

Find childhood. Childhood is the second stage in the list.
second
Name the next stage. The stage after childhood is puberty.
puberty
Write the answer.
puberty

Check. Puberty is the stage on the way to adulthood. ✓

Worked example 4.1.3

Which stage of life comes last? Write the words.

Method. Read the last item in the list.

Read the list. The last item in the list is old age.
last item
Name the stage. So the last stage is old age.
old age
Write the answer.
old age

Check. Old age is the final stage of the five. ✓

Watch out

Watch out: the stages are not exact ages. Every person grows and changes at their own pace, so do not expect everyone to be the same.

Try it (with your teacher or a grown-up). Look at family photographs, with a grown-up. Choose three people, and put their photos in order from youngest to oldest. Write which stage of life each person is in. Talk about one change you can see in the photos.

Exam tip

Grown-up tip. Ask: “Which stage is this person in? What is different about them now?” Keep the talk calm and positive for every age.

Exercise 4A The five stages of life

FWhich stage of life is the first stage, from birth? Write the word.

Done

FWhich stage of life comes between babyhood and puberty? Write the word.

Done

FWhich stage comes after adulthood? Write the words.

Done

FHow many stages of life are listed in section 4.1? Write the number.

Done

FWhich stage is the time when the body changes and grows towards adulthood? Write the word.

Done

FFill in the gap: adulthood is when the body has usually finished ___. Write one word.

Done

PSTrue or false: every person goes through the same changes at exactly the same age. Write true or false.

Done

PSLook at the five figures in section 4.1. Which figure is the youngest stage? Write the word.

Done

PSWorking scientifically. Put things in order. Put these stages in order, starting with the first: adulthood, babyhood, puberty. Write the first word.

Done

RExplain why we say humans go through stages, rather than changing all at once. Write one sentence.

Done

RExplain why the stage of old age is not the end of change. Write one sentence.

Done