The Frog

Name ____________________________________

Class Color ______________________________

Froggy Caretaker # ________

Date _____________________________

The Frog Log Noting observations every F Day in class.

Week #

Date Physical Appearance Activities Observed

Metamorphosis of the Frog

Imagine if your body could change its shape and the things it could do. You might start out walking on the ground with two legs, then later develop wings to fly. Maybe you begin your life with gills and fins so you can breathe and swim under water, and then later grow a set of lungs and legs so you could live on dry land. Does this sound like a fantastic story? It isn’t. Every day there are animals and insects that make these types of changes as part of a process called metamorphosis. The word “metamorphosis” comes from the Greek and means to transform.

Frogs are animals that belong to the class Amphibia, commonly known as ____________________.

Amphibians live both on _________ and in the _________; sometimes they live in water only before they are fully grown.

Some Froggy Facts: Frogs have moist skin that water

can ______________, and most of them spend part of their life, when they are tadpoles, in the water.

Some frogs are _________, spending most of their time in the water. Others are ____________, staying mostly on land or in trees.

The name Amphibian means literally ‘____________.' Frogs range in size from less than _____ inches to

____ inches long! There are over _________ species of frogs and toads.

What makes frogs different from other amphibians?

They have _________ skin, are usually __________ as adults, and have the ability to ________. Some frogs are able to leap 20 times their body length!

Frog Life Cycle

A frog begins life as a fertilized ______. The female frog usually lays the eggs in water in a string or mass that sticks to vegetation. The male frog ____________ the eggs as they are laid.

The outer layer of a fertilized egg is a jelly-like material that swells in water, forming a ______________________.

The fertilized egg is a single cell that rapidly divides again and again, producing new cells that quickly differentiate into the organs of the frog embryo.

Within 2 to 25 days, depending on water temperature, the egg hatches into a tadpole.

The tadpole looks more like a fish at first than like a frog. As the tadpole develops, it forms ______ that allow it to breathe efficiently underwater.

The first sign of further development is the appearance of ____________________.

Its tail grows longer and a fin forms, which allows the tadpole to______________.

The tadpole continues to swim, eat and grow for _____________ before it matures to the next stage.

Then front legs develop and the tail becomes shorter as it is resorbed.

Internally, the tadpole's gills are replaced with lungs until finally the tadpole has become a froglet. The tadpole is now about nine-weeks old.

Once the tail is completely absorbed, the young frogs and toads will come on land. Depending on the species, this may be the last time it is near water until it is ready to breed and start the process over again.

Metamorphosis usually takes 12-16 weeks. Climate and water temperature have a lot to do with this process.

The young frog grows and matures to adulthood over a period of 2-4 years. The adult frogs then lay their eggs and begin the cycle again.