Year 5 Science curriculum area ‘Animals including Humans’
Lesson 2: 'The Gestation Period'
The length of time a mammal spends in its mother’s womb is known as
the ‘gestation period’*. This gestation period can vary enormously from
species to species, as you can see in the table below.
mammal
gestation
period in days
cat
63
mouse
chimpanzee
240
21 days
lion
108
human
266
rabbit
31
African elephant
squirrel
44
650 days
African elephant
650
whale
360
horse
336
Polar bear
241
giraffe
435
mouse
21
rhinoceros
480
hamster
16
*from the Latin word ‘gestare’,
dog
61
camel
400
meaning ‘to carry’.
Why does that make sense?
Who is carrying what?
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