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Frogs and Toads
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Liking It!
Let's look at pictures of dogs.
What colors are dogs? How big are dogs? What do dogs look like?
How do dogs behave? Do all dogs look and behave the same? What
things are different? People take different kinds of dogs with them
all over the world as pets. We can get different dogs at pet stores.
This is why we see so many different dogs.
Do you think frogs and toads are different?
We do not see as many kinds because
people usually do not keep them as pets.
Where do you see frogs and toads?
What color are they?
How big are they?
Did you know there are many different
kinds of frogs and toads?
Many different kinds of frogs and
toads live all over the world.
They may be
green,
brown,
or
gray, and some
have yellow and
orange.
Frogs and toads come in many different
sizes.
To learn more, read the book, All
About Frogs, by Jim Arnosky.
We read many stories about frogs
and toads that are make-believe. Sometimes stories make frogs into
a prince. Sometimes stories give frogs and toads characteristics
like people. They may be happy, sad, or tired.
In one Frog and Toad story,
Frog is waking up Toad because it is May. Do frogs and toads really
sleep in the winter?
Where do they go in winter?
In a fairy tale, The Frog Prince,
a spell was cast over a prince by a wicked witch, to make him an ugly frog.
A young princess loses her golden ball while playing by a spring.
The frog offers to get it for her if she promises to let him be her dearest
friend. Her father makes her keep her promise to the ugly frog.
And he turns in handsome prince, full of love.
Why did the princess think the frog
was ugly?
Why do people think frogs and toads
are ugly?
Let's begin our Frog and Toad Adventure!
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Finding It!
Work with a partner. Find
your frogs or toads names in the list below and click to see pictures and
maps of where they live.
Frog and Toad Pages
Using It!
Which frog or toad 
is your group going to display?
Decide with your group which
TWO frogs or toads you want to display.
Make a model of each frog or
toad out of materials provided.
Write these on a sign for
each frog or toad:
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Kind
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Size
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Color
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Map of where it lives
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Why it lives here
Record the frogs or toads
sounds.
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 Talking About
It!
How Did I Do?
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| Frog or toad is true color? |
Frog or toad is almost true color? |
Frog or toad is wrong color? |
| Frog oe toad is true size? |
Frog or toad is almost true size? |
Frog or toad is wrong size? |
| Frog or toad sound can be heard clearly. |
Frog or toad sound is heard, but not clear. |
Frog or toad sound is not heard. |
| Frog or toad picture, map, name, color and size is clearly displayed. |
Frog or toad picture, map, name, color and size is displayed, but not
clearly. |
Frog or toad picture, map, name, color and size is not displayed. |
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Finishing Up!
Now that we have learned about frogs and toads,
let's read another Frog and Toad story by Arnold Lobel and think about
all that we have learned about frogs and toads. Are any traits of
frogs and toads in the story the same as traits of real frogs? Now
we will write a frog story and think of traits we could give the frogs.
What did you learn about frogs that you would like to include in our story?
What do the frogs or toads look like? Where do they live?
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To the Teacher
This WebQuest was developed for second grade students.
Standards for this unit come from Benchmarks
for Science Literacy
Standard 5. The Living Environment
A. Diversity of Life
Understanding and appreciating the diversity of life does not come from
students' knowing bits of information or classification categories about
many
different species; rather it comes from their ability to see in
organisms the patterns of similarity and difference that permeate the living
world.
Through these patterns, biologists connect the multitude of individual
organisms to the theories of genetics, ecology, and evolution.
Kindergarten through Grade 2
All students, especially those who live in circumstances that limit
their interaction with nature, must have the opportunity to observe a variety
of
plants and animals in the classroom, on the school grounds, in the
neighborhood, at home, in parks and streams and gardens, and at the zoo.
But
observing is not enough. The students should have reasons for their
observations—reasons that prompt them to do something with the information
they collect. The reason can be to answer the students' own questions
about how organisms live or care for their young. Some students may enjoy
displaying, with drawings, photographs, or even real specimens, all
the living things they can find where they live. The point is to encourage
them to
ask questions for which they can find answers by looking carefully
(using hand lenses when needed) at plants and animals and then checking
their
observations and answers with one another.
The anthropomorphism embedded in most animal stories causes some worry.
One suggestion is to ignore it. Stories sometimes give plants and
animals attributes they do not have, but promoting student interest
in reading is more important than giving students rigidly correct impressions
in
their reading. Students can be guided toward making distinctions between
stories that portray animals the way they really are and those that do
not.
Differences among students over the correctness of the portrayal
of animals or plants in books should lead the students to reference works,
which
are another source of information that students must start learning
to use.
By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that:
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Some animals and plants are alike in the way
they look and in the things they do, and others are very different from
one another.
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Plants and animals have features that help
them live in different environments.
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Stories sometimes give plants and animals attributes
they really do not have.
D. Interdependence of Life
Students should investigate the habitats of many different kinds of local
plants and animals, including weeds, aquatic plants, insects, worms, and
amphibians, and some of the ways in which animals depend on plants
and on each other.
By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that:
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Animals eat plants or other animals for food and may also use plants (or
even other animals) for shelter and nesting.
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Living things are found almost everywhere in the world. There are somewhat
different kinds in different places.
Resources
Books:
The frogs wore red suspenders/rhymes by Jack Prelutsky,
2002.
Frog hunt by Sandra Jordan, 2002.
All about frogs by Jim Arnosky, 2002.
Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel.
A
Sampling of Sounds of North American Frogs
Exploratorium
frog chorus page. Listen to the calls of different North American
frogs.
Iowa
Frogs
The
Adaptable Frog. This page tells what frogs do in the winter when
it is cold.
Frogs
at School (Song)
More Frogs
Hybrid Treefrog Sound http://www.folkways.si.edu/15.htm
Mexican Treefrog http://www.folkways.si.edu/56.htm
Mexican Leaf Frog http://www.folkways.si.edu/64.htm
Sonoran Green Toad http://www.folkways.si.edu/72.htm
Great Plains Narrow-Mouthed Toad http://www.folkways.si.edu/51.htm
Gopher Frog http://www.folkways.si.edu/12.htm
Northern Cricket Frog
Pictures
and Map
Information
Thinking About
It!