Is it a fish?? or a frog??

Frogs are just great fun aren't they. I finally managed to get the camera to the pond to take pictures of the tadpoles. It was a wonderful evening and we spent quite a bit of time at the pond although if you ask the kids they will say we snatched them away just as soon as we got there (I know we stayed for at least 45 min). That's kids for you when they aren't having fun it seems to drag on forever and when they are we are whisking them away an the most inconvinient times.

The boys are all looking hard for tadpoles, it's a bit harder in the twilight.

Conner is searching around while colin goes off to a different area where the tadpoles haven't all been scared away Austin isn't so good at this, he says "they're slimy". Umm yeah you did get then out of the water didn't you. Where they supposed to be dry?

The kids had been told (goodness knows where thye heard this and how acurate it is) that if you shine a light in the frog's eyes he will be blinded momentarily and you will be able to catch him. Of course they had to try this out. Hmm can I consider this an experiment too?? Flashlight in hand they went a hunting and Colin (of course) was first up, again (groan from all the other kids). There were several families and a few other kids doing much of the same as us. I didn't manage to see a bullfrog they are quite huge but the cattails are so big and it was getting dark that I couldn't find any.

Here are some pictures of the boys' catch. My dh thought I enjoyed it almost more than they did, I admit it was fun seeing all those little guys and all their differences its my kind of learning. I was enjoying the kids enjoying it, you know what I mean. It is so fun to watch their faces in concentration, bewilderment and amuesment. They caught many tadpoles and had a blast.

Isn't he cute? Okay I don't know if it is a he or she but still.

Look at the tail, it is so neat to see the transformation in person rather than in some dusty ole book. This little guy was very nice.

I am astounded by how very different they are from each other. In color, size and their tails all seem to be at a different stage.

Take this guy for example he is practically still a fish. No wonder Austin thinks he is slimy. I talk to the boys about the differences we are seeing and how very neat it is to watch this progress.

This frog had the longest tail so far. He even has extra skin on it to help him swim in the water, at least that is what I think.

We got lucky and Colin somehow caught two at a time and we got a picture of three of them. You can see the differences in them. Too bad that 3rd one didn't cooperate and let us see his tail because as you can see one has an extrodinary long tail while that front one seems to be just about done with his tail.

Of course I couldn't finish this up without a few great links I found about frogs and their life cycle. I feel a unit coming, lol.

http://www.tooter4kids.com/Frogs/life_cycle_of_frogs.htm

simple outline with a great diagram

http://allaboutfrogs.org/froglnd.shtml

Wow. Don't miss this one it has everything all linkable and cute and fun. They even include a frog joke of the day, who wouldn't love this.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/index.html

A muesum in California that is definetly for the higher up levels. There is some really good stuff here like the different types of skin or feet a frog has. It is a definite in depth look at frogs.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005C0VD?tag=thewholemagila&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B00005C0VD&adid=028WV2MWRPEAS2607JPZ&

for those adventurous enough to watch the metamorphasis at home, you can order a kit online for about $20

http://www.bry-backmanor.org/gardenfun/frogclips.html

Some clipart if you want to put a unit together yourself.

http://search.enchantedlearning.com/cgi-bin/uncgi/search?key=frogs

Enchanted learning has a good collection of stuff on frogs as well.

http://www.kidzone.ws/lw/frogs/activities.htm

Very cute lower level to medium level

http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Interdisciplinary/INT0025.html

For me, thematic unit.
http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/frogs.htm

Lapbook on frogs, various levels.

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/Frog_Lapbook.php

Another lapbook

Vanessa