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Contents
1.  What you can do
2.  Water
3.  Ecology
4.  Amphibians
5.  Environmental Issues
6.  Keystone species
7.  Get Wet!-
     Field Study Ideas

8.  The Zoo Experience
9.  Frogs & Friends
10. Case Studies
11. Resources
12. Glossary

Wetland Curriculum Resource
Unit 4. Amphibians - Background for Educators

4.3. FROG FOR A DAY
(Level:
1 : 4 )

Purpose: To encourage students to become more sensitive towards the life of a frog.

What You Need: The story included here.

What You Do:

  1. Read the story, then answer the discussion questions.

You are a green frog, basking on a lily pad in the warm summer sun. The water of the cool refreshing pond is only a hop away. It is a bright day. The sky is blue, and there is only a slight warm breeze. The sun's heat feels great and warms you all over. Your skin is very smooth and slippery. It usually feels quite moist, except when you are basking in the sun.

You look over the large, lush pond. With your eyes, it does not take much for you to see the entire pond and you need only to move your body slightly. The pond's banks are covered with long, green cattails that shade the cool, muddy banks. You know that when you want to cool off, you can swim over to the bank and relax on the cool, shaded mud. In the meantime, you sit perfectly still, warming yourself in the sun.

Suddenly you become aware of a big insect flying nearby. Your leg twitches with anticipation. It is a dragonfly, your absolute favourite insect to eat! You are able to follow its path of flight without even moving your body. Your eyes do all the work. The dragonfly has made a fatal mistake of flying past you as it hunts a mosquito. You quickly flick your sticky tongue in its direction and return it to your mouth. Using your front feet, you quickly push the struggling insect into your mouth. It is so big that it takes you a few minutes to get it all inside your mouth, and even then, some of it's wing will not fit. Its a little tough to do all this eating with no teeth in your mouth! It helps when you close your eyes to push the food down into your stomach. Your stomach is so full now that you probably will not have to eat for a few days.

The breeze slightly rustles the leaves of the cattails and arrowheads, and you catch a glimpse of a Great Blue Heron wading between the bulrushes with its long skinny legs. It is time to find yourself a good hiding spot, and quickly! Its a good thing that your skin is green to enable you to blend in with the bulrushes. You take one big leap into the water and swim to the bank. Your strong hind legs with webbed feet do most of the work. You emerge between the bulrushes. With your eyes on the top of your head, barely above the water, you watch the heron closely. One false move and you will be dinner for that heron. Luckily, the heron does not see you and it slowly wades away. Still cautious, but confident that it has left, you hop back onto the lily pad to bask and watch the setting sun.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you like frogs? What do you think of frogs?
  2. How did it feel to be a green frog?
  3. What was the best part about being a frog?
  4. What didn't you like about being a frog?
  5. Did you like to sun yourself, or did you prefer a cool swim?
  6. Did you enjoy eating the dragonfly?
  7. How did you feel when you suddenly saw the Great Blue Heron?
  8. What do you think you would do if you saw a human?
  9. Do you think frogs or humans lead an easier life?
  10. How would you feel if you found yourself trapped in someone's strong hand?
  11. How would you describe a frog to someone who has never seen one before?
  12. Now that you know what it is like to be a frog, do you think you would act differently if you came across one in a pond? What would you do differently?

Click here to see the list of activities for this unit.

 



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