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.
Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
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. What did both kinds of insect leave behind as they grew?
2. What were the mealworms eating?
3. What claim does this log support?
4. Why were both tanks checked on the same day each week?
2.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
3.A maggot is the larva of which insect?
A.A fly
B.A grasshopper
C.A cricket
4.Which of these insects never has a pupa stage?
A.A moth
B.A bee
C.A cockroach
5.A dragonfly nymph lives under water and the adult flies. Which kind of life cycle does it have?
A.Incomplete: egg, nymph, adult
B.Complete: egg, larva, pupa, adult
C.It has no life cycle
6.What do complete and incomplete life cycles have in common?
A.Both have a nymph
B.Both start with an egg and end with an adult that can make young
C.Both have a pupa
7.What does a nymph do as it grows?
A.It stays the same size
B.It spins a chrysalis
C.It sheds its skin several times, looking more like the adult each time
LessonPrint · 3-LS1-1 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Mealworms and Stick Insects
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Shed skins. 2. Bran. 3. Both insects grew into adults, but only the mealworm had a pupa stage. 4. So the changes in the two tanks could be compared week by week.
2.The larva's body is rebuilt into the adult's
3.A fly
4.A cockroach
5.Incomplete: egg, nymph, adult
6.Both start with an egg and end with an adult that can make young
7.It sheds its skin several times, looking more like the adult each time
Questions about Mealworms and Stick Insects
What does the Mealworms and Stick Insects worksheet cover?
It practices using an insect log to compare complete and incomplete metamorphosis — 7 questions for Grade 3, all on NGSS 3-LS1-1: Model how life cycles differ, and what every one of them has in common. The instruction to students is “Read the record, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which NGSS performance expectation does Mealworms and Stick Insects practice?
3-LS1-1, under Life Science for Grade 3. The published performance expectation reads: “Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.” The worksheet assesses that performance expectation rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Mealworms and Stick Insects is written for Grade 3, typically ages 8-9. It is one of the sheets on 3-LS1-1, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Mealworms and Stick Insects come with an answer key?
Yes. All 7 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of Mealworms and Stick Insects can I print?
25 — one per student, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.
Is Mealworms and Stick Insects free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Mealworms and Stick Insects, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
More practice for 3-LS1-1
Model how life cycles differ, and what every one of them has in common.