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Platypus Life Cycle Worksheet

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Platypus Life Cycle Worksheet

Harper and Mason are helping record wildlife near a quiet freshwater creek beside a fishing harbour. Read the fact file, then solve their platypus life-cycle challenges. Use the clues on this page; no outside resources are needed.

Creek-side fact file

The platypus is an Australian mammal that lays eggs. A female usually digs a protected chamber alongside a freshwater habitat, where she lays one or two eggs. After about ten days, the eggs hatch. The babies, called puggles, are tiny and have no fur when they hatch. Their mother feeds them milk, which seeps through special skin rather than through nipples. Puggles stay in the burrow while they grow fur and develop. Later, young platypuses leave the burrow and learn to find food in the water. Adult platypuses have a broad bill, webbed feet and waterproof fur. They hunt small water animals in freshwater creeks and rivers.

Solve the life-cycle clues

Use the fact file to answer each question. Check that your explanations match the evidence.

1.Harper finds a note saying a platypus is a mammal. Which clue best supports this?

It lays eggs.
It feeds its babies milk.
It has webbed feet.

2.Number these stages from 1 to 4 to show the life cycle order: adult platypus, puggle, egg, young platypus.

3.Complete the sentence: A baby platypus is called a .

4.True or false? Platypus puggles hatch with fur.

TrueFalse

5.Mason says, “A platypus mother feeds her puggle milk through nipples.” Correct Mason’s mistake using a fact from the passage.

6.Where is a female platypus most likely to lay her eggs?

In a nesting burrow near water
In a tree hollow high above a creek
On a sandy ocean beach

7.Grace notices a platypus has a broad bill, webbed feet and waterproof fur. Choose two features and explain how each could help it live in water.

8.About how long after the eggs are laid do they hatch?

About ten days
About ten weeks
About one year

9.Imagine Harper sees a young platypus leaving its burrow. What is one thing it will need to learn as it grows?

10.Write one sentence explaining why the platypus is unusual among mammals. Use two facts from the passage.

Draw arrows to show the repeating stages: egg → puggle → young platypus → adult platypus → egg. Add one small detail beside each stage, such as “hatches” or “lays eggs”.