Group Lessons

We start to introduce group lessons about the middle of the second week of school. We introduced the five classes of vertebrates. On another day we read about mammals and found out how we now if an animal belongs in the mammal group. We will continue with remaining groups during the next few months.

In coming weeks, depending on when you start school, we will discuss further vertebrate groups, including amphibians. This is how I introduce Amphibians in Week 9, in case you want to use it as a template:

Zoology 12

“Frogs, toads, and salamanders belong to the family of animals called amphibians. Amphibians lay eggs. Their eggs are soft and have no shell over them like a chicken egg does. The mother amphibian lays the eggs in the water so the soft eggs won’t dry out. Most amphibians are born in the water and they do not look like their mother. Does this tadpole look like it’s mother frog?

Tadpoles cannot see right after they hatch from the eggs and they cannot eat for a day or two. They stick to water plants. Since they are in the water, how do you think they breathe? They breathe through tiny gills, like fish. As the tadpoles starts to change, their little mouths form. They begin to eat and eat and grow and grow.

Day by day the tadpoles grow and change. Their heads get larger and the tails grow fat. They swim like fish until their legs start to appear. Amphibians go through this change after they are born. We call this change Metamorphosis.”

Here’s what you’ll need for the Lesson:

Need for lesson – Pictures of amphibians, Parts of a Frog and if you have available, some tadpoles, or a real frog. Later on in the curriculum we talk about Biomes including ponds. Tadpoles can be purchased then and by the time Spring comes, they should be ready to be released.