Dynamic 2 Moms

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.' "
 Exodus 8:5

 Loads of Toads

 In many ways amphibians are unique with changes that are either rare or nonexistent elsewhere in the animal kingdom. Compared with other vertebrates, amphibians tend to be overlooked. They may seem less conspicuous and less important than reptiles but they are a vital part of our environment and really amazing creatures.

  Amphibians include three major groups:

                                 1. Salamanders, newts and sirens; and

                               2. Frogs and toads; and

                                3. Caecilians pronounced  (see-SIL-ee-ans).

Herpetology comes from the Greek word which means to creep. Some say herpetology is a jargon word and not even in the dictionary. Many biologists use the term "herp" or "herptiles" for all reptiles and amphibians. So in a nutshell it is the branch of zoology concerned with reptiles and amphibians. This comes from way back when biologists thought amphibians and reptiles were very similar but in reality they are not very similar at all, but the comparison of the two groups has survived.

  What is an amphibian?

The word comes from two Greek words. Amphi which means “both” and “bios” which means life. Amphibians are cold blooded animals so their body temperature is the same as the surrounding temperature. So this means they have a double life; part of it is in water and part is on land. This is one of their most unique features.

 Characteristics:

· Amphibians do not hold their body temperature constant like mammals; rather, their internal temperature depends upon that of the surrounding environment.

· Amphibians have soft, generally moist, and permeable skin, which helps them to absorb oxygen and water; however, it also absorbs harmful pollutants.

· Amphibian skin is without scales, hair, or feathers, which makes swimming easier; however, it may mean less protection from environmental threats.

· Amphibian eggs do not have shells and so must be laid in water or a damp environment to keep from drying out; the absence of a hard shell makes delicate embryos vulnerable to pollution and UV radiation.

· Amphibians require a moist environment, meaning that they are vulnerable to changes in hydrology .

(Note: Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the earth. So it means both the hydrologic cycle and water resources. A practitioner of hydrology is a hydrologist.)

Amphibians go through a two-stage life cycle. When an amphibian egg hatches, the emerging animal is in a gilled larval form. In frogs and toads, this larva is called a tadpole; in salamanders, it is simply known as a larva. Although the larvae may transform into the adult form after a few weeks or months, it may still take a few years for it to mature.

This process or two stage life cycle is called metamorphosis.

 What is the difference between a frog and a toad?

Most people would say that frogs have shiny smooth skin and  live near water . On the other hand, toads have warts, are chubby and tend to not live near water. However, these are not scientific groupings, just common names. Scientist refer to all members of this group as “frogs”. It’s true they may appear different physically but with relatively minor differences.

Some toads are dwarfs, most burrow, still others are quite chubby looking like the Giant Toad. One physical difference that is noticeable on the anatomy of a toad is that their legs are shorter and they do not jump as far as frogs.

The insides of a toad and a frog are similar even though their bone structure is not exactly the same. Click here to go through a lab tutorial on the internal anatomy of a toad.

Lab Tutor - Toad Internal Anatomy (Be sure to click on background information at the bottom)

Toads try to eat almost any small animal that moves--smaller toads, insects, earthworms, fish and they will even try for a bird, snake, turtle or mouse. They should be valued for their role in pest control.

As tadpoles or young frogs, they don’t start out eating like this. Before they undergo metamorphosis, they eat mainly bacteria and algae.

Look at this illustration of how they capture their food using their sticky tongue.

    This picture is showing the  movement of the tongue in catching an insect

The tongue is fastened in front instead of at the back and can be extended fully two inches, in an exceedingly rapid movement.

 People can affect amphibians in many ways. Some people eat frog legs and some buy amphibians as pets.

Sad to say though, some even go out of their way to kill amphibians because of fear or even dislike.

However, some cultures have great respect for amphibians and never intentionally harm or kill them. So the next time you’re outside ask yourself: “What toads live in or near my pond? How can I protect their habitat? How can I care for these exciting creatures God gave us?

  Here are some of the  toads we studied about. 

(Note: Pictures are copyright Gary Nafis. Go here for a wonderful site and more info. about them. Thank you Mr. Nafis for helping us promote our education and study of these fascinating creatures.) 

Red Spotted Toad 

Eastern American Toad 

 Black Toad 

 Western Green Toad

If you want to do some research on the toads seen above, here are some links we enjoyed: (*Note you will leave this site, have fun!)

Black Toads

Western Green Toads

Eastern American Toad

Red Spotted Toads 

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/red-spot.html

LAPBOOK

   Letter size file folder

Be sure not glue your fact cards to your pockets. The fact cards can be taken out to memorize and play with. Our kids turned them picture side up and tried to guess their names and facts about them.  

Loads of Toads Cover     

  Mini Fact Cards and Pockets

Download Toad Fact Cards and Pockets here   

 What is an amphibian ? trifold

 Frogs and Toads - Inside of Frog and Toad Book Are they really different?    

You choose the inside depending on what you want your child to do and how much time you have. The left side they fill in, the right side has images that are labeled.

      Pull Tab book Metamorphosis       Did you know..book (trivia)

Coloring sheet and mini flip  book for younger

 Coloring Page - Leopard Frog   -og word family trace flip book

  Notebook Pages

Toad - Green NB cover                        Toad - Lily pad NB Cover

         Amphibians NB Cover                  Frog insides - NB Cover

Black Toad - NB Cover         Eastern American Toad NB-Cover

    Red Spotted Toad NB Cover   Western Green Toad NB Cover

Fire Bellied Toad

For your younger kids: I Like F early reader with writing activities from St.Aidens Homeschool in South Africa.

                           16 pg early reader with writing activities

 About Our Pictures

The first  time we studied about amphibians, we did like most people and studied reptiles and amphibians together as a co-op. When we study them from now on, we will do it separately as we have now. There is just too much information to take in :o).  But a lot of our pictures and links will include both reptiles and amphibians.

 FROG Lapbook

Pictures of our first frog lapbook. The kids really liked the frog picture in Dinah Zikes book so we had to "copy" that one. LOL

Front cover

We used two legal size folders. We just drew free hand the legs, folded the red file folder in half and cut out. We had two feet, the same size. We turned one the other way. This made it easier than cutting out two separate feet--duhhh..lol. Each foot was a different size when we did that! We had green jewelry "stones" that were eyes.

 We had some left over red mini matchbooks from Target that were invitations we used elsewhere. The leaf we cut free hand and the brown mini book is a frog sandwich book. It is really cool (as our kids say)!

Creation wheel link - Adorable 3 page pdf download with creation wheel and pictures.

Frog Sandwich book Lesson Plan - This explains what it is. This is a NIFTY little project.

Frog Sandwich book - An actual book of mini pages put together. Soooooo much fun! Be sure to download both the teacher's and student's books.

Update: We cannot find the updated links (if any) for the frog sandwich books so we have uploaded them here on our site as we do not want to lose them. Note: This is not our work and we want to give credit for it/link it when we can and to do know. If this is your work, please let us know.

Frog Sandwich Book Student Copy

Frog Sandwich Book Teacher's Copy

Another frog sandwich book but the pages are already printed small here.

Some of our members downloaded a bread slice shaped page from Houghton Miffin for their frog sandwich book..mmmm good. LOL Here it is.

 Books are opened on this pic.

The iguana was a worksheet, fill in the answer and we just cut it to fit inside the leaf.  My youngest wanted to study some about dinosaurs since they are reptiles and so "match that dinosaur" is in the red pocket.We also included a creation wheel to show the creative days.

  Co-op Picture

We did this dinosaur diorama too as part of our reptile study. But this was really cute done by Tori in our co-op. She took the printables and sized them down real small so that they fit inside a match box. Soooooo cutie!!!!!

  Dinosaur diroma printable

We also did a "show and tell". Everyone brought something and we shared "pets". Of course with so many children around, our pets were well fed that day! LOL

I think homeschool moms have to be some really talented ladies!

 Look at some of the creations by our moms in our co-op. Cynthia made this Strawberry Shortcake Snake. She used "Ladyfingers" for the body. In this neck of the wood we call them that--but they are the oval shaped cookies. Strawberries, whipcream and a twizzler licorice for the "tongue"along with some chocolate chip eyeballs...Yum Yum!

Evelyn made these adorable frog cupcakes

 Also these frogs on a log, log, log.......lol

These are pinwheels of thin sliced lunch meat and cheese with a small pickle on top in a tortilla held together by toothpicks.

Of course, a unit study on this wouldn't be complete without a trip to the zoo. 

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