Category: Frogs and Toads

Frogs and Toads – Background

The warm rains of spring awaken an explosion of activity in our nearby pools, ponds, and muddy puddles. If you visit at dusk, you are sure to be greeted by a chorus of many and varied voices as one or more species of frogs comes a-courting, in a celebration of sound. This singing is an important part of their yearly breeding cycle and provides the music for spring and summer nights.

Frogs and toads, along with salamanders, are classified as amphibians. The word amphibian is from the Greek words meaning double life and refers to the fact that these animals have “two lives” – a larval stage and an adult stage that are often very different from each other. Most amphibians begin their lives in water but as adults are able to live on land, often returning to water to breed. They undergo an amazing transformation, or metamorphosis, from aquatic larva to terrestrial adult, involving physiological, anatomical, and behavioral changes. Continue reading Frogs and Toads – Background

Frogs and Toads – Activities

FOCUS: Wetlands come alive in spring as frogs and toads serenade us with their chorus of voices. We’ll learn to distinguish who’s who in the pond by studying different amphibians and their pattern of development, observing field marks of frogs, and listening closely to their distinct songs. A field trip to a frog pond is a must!

INTRODUCTION
Objective: To begin to explore and ask questions about frogs and toads.

Play a short spring frog chorus, and ask children to share thoughts about what they’re hearing.

Materials: audio recordings of frog voices, device to play audio.

GOING ON A FROG HUNT
Objective: To carry out a field investigation of frogs and other amphibians at a local pond or wetland.

Ahead of time, scout out a frog pond and get permission from the landowner to use the site. Find a place where there is easy access for everyone.

Before going to the pond, discuss proper field methods and collection techniques. Remind children that amphibians along with their eggs and tadpoles are very fragile creatures and need to be handled with care. Please leave eggs in the water. If you have nets, let the children practice catching small objects and scooping them up in the net.  Continue reading Frogs and Toads – Activities

Frogs and Toads – Puppet Show

Two Lives Are Better than One

Characters:  Teddy Toad Tadpole, Freddy Frog Tadpole, Teddy Toad, Freddy Frog, Emmy Eft, Mindy Mink.

Prop: Sign saying “Months Later”

Freddy Tadpole Hello, Teddy Tadpole

Teddy Tadpole  Hello, Freddy Tadpole.

Freddy When I grow up, I’m gonna be a frog. I’m not gonna have a tail anymore and I’m gonna have four long legs so I can leap!  How about you? Continue reading Frogs and Toads – Puppet Show

Frogs and Toads – Standards

FROGS AND TOADS ALIGNMENT WITH
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS

The activities in this unit help children understand the basic concepts in the Disciplinary Core Ideas listed here. You can use the following list as a guide for lesson planning. These Disciplinary Core Ideas are taken from Grade Band Endpoints in A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Additionally, our activities give children opportunities to engage in many of the Science and Engineering Practices and reflect on the Crosscutting Concepts as identified in the Next Generation Science Standards. Continue reading Frogs and Toads – Standards