Tadpole to Frog

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes! What animals change more than tadpoles? Show the life stages of frogs in this hopping biology project.

• 1.

  Your body may change every day, but you have the same limbs and you have breathed in the same way since birth. Frogs, however, start out underwater with a tail and end up on land tail-less with four legs!

• 2.

  With a partner, find out more about this fascinating growth process. With Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencils, jot down notes about each stage and sketch the features you will include on your models. Just erase if you need to correct your drawing or spelling.

• 3.

  Shape brown Crayola Model Magic into a newly hatched tadpole. (Or knead brown color from a Crayola Washable Marker to white Model Magic.) Its gills look like tiny tentacles at this stage.

• 4.

  Form a more mature tadpole whose hind legs have appeared and head bulges where future front legs will grow. Add some green Model Magic or knead green color from a washable marker to show the slight change in hue.

• 5.

  Blend in more green to create the third stage of life for this fascinating amphibian. This creature’s tail gets shorter as its front legs appear.

• 6.

  Next the immature frog’s eyes seem to grow bigger while the tail all but disappears. Front and back legs become stronger and more functional.

• 7.

  The final frog is all green with ready-to-leap limbs, nostrils for breathing, and a wide mouth for snatching bugs.

• 8.

  Color a pond for your frog display. The next time you see or hear a frog, explain what you’ve learned about a frog’s life to your companions!

Benefits

• Students work with a partner to research the life cycle of the frog and note and sketch each stage’s details.
• Students represent the amphibian’s growth process in a 3-D display of realistic sculptures.

Adaptations

• Label your display with information including actual size and time since hatching. A picture or model of the frog’s egg sac could be included to completely round out the circle. Draw a changing background to illustrate the journey from pond to bank.
• Research other animals that transform as they age. Compare lifecycles, stages, and time periods. On a world map, identify where these animals live.
• Write a short story, play, or song about the feelings of a tadpole as it ages into a frog.
• Assessment: Verify details of each life stage including body parts, colors, proportions, and shapes.