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Mealworms and Stick Insects is a free printable Grade 3 science worksheet on using an insect log to compare complete and incomplete metamorphosis, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 3-LS1-1. It prints 7 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

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Mealworms and Stick Insects

3-LS1-1

NameDate

Read the record, then answer the questions.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

Mealworms and Stick Insects

A log the class kept of two insect tanks, checked every Monday for sixteen weeks. MEALWORM TANK Week 1: small brown larvae, called mealworms, eating bran Week 6: larvae longer; empty skins where they had shed Week 10: some larvae still and pale, curled up as pupae, not eating Week 13: black adult beetles; no pupae left STICK INSECT TANK Week 1: tiny nymphs, shaped like the adults, eating privet leaves Week 8: nymphs much longer; shed skins on the leaves Week 16: adult stick insects laying eggs; no pupa seen at any point

  1. 1. Which insect went through a stage where it lay still and did not eat?
  2. 2. What claim does this log support?
  3. 3. Why were both tanks checked on the same day each week?
  4. 4. What did both kinds of insect leave behind as they grew?
2.A young grasshopper looks like a small adult with no wings. What is it called?
  • A.A pupa
  • B.A nymph
  • C.A larva
3.Which of these insects never has a pupa stage?
  • A.A moth
  • B.A bee
  • C.A cockroach
4.What happens inside a pupa?
  • A.It sleeps and stays the same
  • B.It lays eggs
  • C.The larva's body is rebuilt into the adult's
5.In a complete life cycle, which stage comes between the larva and the adult?
  • A.The pupa
  • B.The nymph
  • C.The egg
6.What do complete and incomplete life cycles have in common?
  • A.Both have a pupa
  • B.Both have a nymph
  • C.Both start with an egg and end with an adult that can make young
7.A maggot is the larva of which insect?
  • A.A cricket
  • B.A grasshopper
  • C.A fly

LessonPrint · 3-LS1-1 · Set 3 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Mealworms and Stick Insects

Set 3. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The mealworm, as a pupa. 2. Both insects grew into adults, but only the mealworm had a pupa stage. 3. So the changes in the two tanks could be compared week by week. 4. Shed skins.
  2. 2.A nymph
  3. 3.A cockroach
  4. 4.The larva's body is rebuilt into the adult's
  5. 5.The pupa
  6. 6.Both start with an egg and end with an adult that can make young
  7. 7.A fly

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 3-LS1-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.