Unit 08 – A Great Leap Forward

Raising Tadpoles
Frog Activities
Letter to the Editor
 
Raising Tadpoles

Setting up a frog tadpole tank

Involve students in the setting up process. You will need:

• a glass fish tank about 45 cm x 30 cm
• a piece of polystyrene to sit under the tank
• gravel to cover the base of the tank
• one or two potted papyrus plants which sit in and out of the water
• an under-gravel filter
• some local tadpoles
• chlorine neutraliser (or make chlorine free water by standing tap water in
• sunlight so chlorine dissipates
• some spare chlorine-free water to top up tank when needed
• dry vegetarian fish food or algae tablets (don’t overuse).

Notes for teachers

In a tank this size you can raise about 20 tadpoles. If you have too many they tend to eat each other or die off. You will need a shallow ramp so that the frogs can climb out of the water. Tree frogs can climb up steeper branches.

A glass tank enables the children to view the stages of the life cycle.

Using a filter and dry fish food keeps the water fairly clean to assist with viewing.

Place your tank in an airy warm position but not in direct sunlight.

The polystyrene protects the tank from cracking.

Normal tap water will poison the tadpoles so use chlorine neutraliser drops as per instructions on bottle.

Involve the children in the care and maintenance of the tank. Children observe and document changes as they happen.

Once frog tadpoles have morphed they need to be released from where they were collected, or you will need a permit to keep them from the EPA.

For more information refer to “Raising Native Frogs” by Alastair Bax (1995, Queensland Conservation Council, PO Box 12046, Brisbane
Queensland, 4002). Procedures in this book need to be modified for classroom use. Also consult the Frog Decline Reversal Project at www.fdrproject.org.au

Collecting the tadpoles
During the wet season many small puddles and drains in urban areas may contain tadpoles which are unlikely to survive once the water begins to evaporate. Please collect from these areas where tadpoles would not survive – do NOT collect from national parks, rainforest creeks or freshwater swamps.

Ask the children to look for tadpoles and bring them to school. Children can put a sign up at the local shop or write a notice for the school newsletter.

Warning: Be very clear about identifying frog tadpoles. Do not raise toad poles. Toad tadpoles are pure black and have a diamond shaped body and short tail. Native frog tadpoles often have light coloured undersides and a brown back. Kill toadpoles by freezing them in a plastic bag in the freezer.

Frog Activities

1. Label the tank.

2. Discuss changes on a daily basis, as they are observed by students. Tadpoles can grow very quickly.

3. Take photos of tadpole development with a digital camera.

4. Use questioning to create further discussion. How can we monitor their growth? (A ruler can be blu-tacked to the outside of the tank.)

5.Create a Big Book using interactive and modelled writing on the life cycle of their frogs.

6. Ask students to draw pictures to create a timeline of the tadpoles' development.

7. Create a persuasive poster on why we are responsible for protecting our frog population. Explore persuasive genre.

8. Invite a special frog-crazy guest to share their knowledge of frogs.

9. Write to the local newspaper (eg. Cairns Post Ed) about what students are learning and why learning about frogs is important.

10. Research relevant internet sites for additional information and download frog images from web.

11. Research and introduce scientific language and indigenous language using interesting word charts.
eg. Kuku-Yalanji word for frog is yirku-yirku and green frog is Karrkurr. The Djabugay word for frog is wubun.

12. Scaffold report writing and note taking.

13. Make a power point presentation on a chosen frog. Include and use correct terminology such as classification, appearance, habitat, habits, diet, and level of endangerment. For younger students this might be just one page, for older students this could be one page for each heading.

14. Identify the level of Government that has control of development in local areas. Frogs are affected by disease, loss of habitat and breeding sites, dogs and cats, increased use of chemicals in homes and gardens, road and building development.

15. Write a letter to the local council explaining what you have been learning about at school and what action you would like local government to take.

16. Find out more about frogs
How to make a frog pond
General Information
Interesting facts
Threats

Letter to the Editor

Students respond to mock anti-frog letter.

Saving Frogs: WHY BOTHER?
Dear Editor,
I live in the Wetcourt area and I was appalled to hear that one of our local schools were raising tadpoles of the white-pipped green pee frog.
Let’s face it at school you should be learning how to read and write, who cares about frogs! In fact they are a dam nuisance. Their croaking keeps me awake all night and there are to many of them anyway.
Can’t the school teacher just show some books on frogs or maybe they could just go to one of those wild life parks for goodness sakes. Why aren’t these kids learning about something that matters like the names of all the American Presidents and the names of all the capital cities in the world? What can kids possibly gain by learning about frogs?
They look horrible too, they have eyes like Bart Simpson and make rude noises like him too. They look slimy and probably if ever you touched one you might even catch something off them.
I hear that local frogs eat small insects such as flies and mosquitoes but really can’t we just use a can of insect spray for those little pests. They say that some frogs are endangered. It’s amazing isn’t it? We always wait until something has just about disappeared before anyone cares. We should just admit that it’s too late and let them all die.
All of our taxes are getting spent on maintaining habitats like rainforests for these creatures, wouldn’t the money be better spent on roads and housing or maybe a park for the kids to play in?
Get real teachers start teaching our kids properly or get a new job?
Concerned local resident: