If life continues from generation to generation, then all plants and animals must go through a life cycle, even though it may be different from organism to organism. Is this what students have “learned,” or do they have their own private conceptions about life cycles? The formative assessment probe “Does It Have a Life Cycle?” reveals some surprising ideas children have about life cycles (Keeley, Eberle, and Dorsey 2008). It is designed to find out whether students recognize that all living multicellular organisms go through a life cycle.