Introduction:

Tadpoles are the young stages of frogs, toads, newts and salamanders.  The adults often live far from water, but they return in the spring to mate and to lay their eggs.  The eggs are covered in a soft jelly-like material and are called spawns. In this science inquiry lesson the students get to observe and chart the growth stages of frog tadpoles. An example of the growth stages can be viewed at: Enchanted Learning/Frog Life Cycle

Using the interactive CD ROM Amphibians & Reptiles by Jr. Nature, the students view videos, print activities, take grade appropriate quizzes and interact with pondlife games.
 

Materials:

Jr. Nature interactive CD-ROM and book, a computer with a printer, tadpoles, a small aquarium, Internet

 Procedure:

Collect about half a cup of spawn or tadpoles. 
Put them into a small aquarium tank. 
Add a few rocks and some water plants. 
Change the water if it gets murky. 
Watch your tadpoles carefully and you will see them gradually change into adults.
Using a computer-generated Field Notes journal, have students daily record what they observe in the aquarium tank
Have the students to take turns charting the growth development of the tadpoles once a week using a Growth and Development Chart. 
Students will use data from growth development chart to create a spreadsheet, then bar graph of growth 
 

Home Learning:
 

Students will creatively use materials that can be found around their homes and make a replica of frog, toad, or salamander spawn.

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated on their Field Notes observations for content and accuracy.

Book Resources

• Tadpole and Frog by Christine Back and Barrie Watts
• The Life Cycle of the Frog by Paula Hogan. Photos-Illustrations by Geri K. Strigenz
• A New True Book: Pond Life by Lynn M. Stone
• Life in Ponds and Streams by Williams H. Amos

Extension: Comparing and Contrasting

• After conducting research into tadpoles, students will compare and contrast frogs, newts, salamanders and toads
• Explain that when you are comparing, you tell how things are alike and when you are contrasting, you tell how things are different
• Visit Ask Earl- Toads and Frogs, Pond Life, and Amphibians to learn the differences and similarities:
• There's very little difference between a toad and a frog--they're both in the same family of amphibians. Generally speaking, toads have shorter legs, bigger bodies, and rougher, drier skin. Frogs, on the other hand, have smooth, moist skin, long legs, and smaller, skinnier bodies. Frogs are built for jumping, while toads are built for hopping.
• Salamanders range throughout much of the United States. The aquatic larvae have feathery external gills, budding arms and legs, and a fish-like tail. The terrestrial adults live in underground burrows or beneath logs and rocks, except during the breeding season, when they converge upon bodies of water to court, mate, and lay eggs.
• The newt has an interesting and complex life history. It has a four-stage life cycle, egg, aquatic larvae with external gills, terrestrial or land dwelling eft, and aquatic adult. The adult newt lives in ponds, lakes, and slow moving rivers that have a good supply of submerged vegetation. The elf live in moist areas of the forest among the leaf litter.
• Students will collect data on index cards
• Write the names of the two animals comparing and contrasting 
• Complete Compare/Contrast Map
• Repeat with other two animals
• Proofread, spell check, print
• Share