Objective: Students will be able to understand that life cycles differ as well as state and describe the stages of a frog.
Basic Facts
- Frogs have multiple stages in thier life cycle:
- egg, tadpole, tadpole with legs, froglet, frog
- Egg
- Unlike mammals, frogs lay eggs.
- To increase the chances of survival, many eggs are laid by the frog.
- Frogs lay their eggs in masses.
- Frog eggs can usually be found in calm or static waters.
- Tadpole
- Tadpoles, the next stage, hatch from the egg with poorly developed gills, mouth, and tail.
- After 7-10 days, the tadpoles will start to swim around and eat algae.
- By week 4, tadpoles are active and social.
- Tadpole with legs
- Between weeks 6-9, the tadpole will begin to form their legs.
- Their body continues to develop, forming a more distinct head.
- During this stage, tadpoles eat dead insects and plants.
- By week 9, they will look like a frog with a long tail.
- Froglet
- By week 12, the froglet will have only a stub for a tail.
- The froglet looks like a smaller version of a frog.
- Frog
- By week 12-16, it has grown to a fully developed frog.
- It is at this stage that they start to look for a mate and the cycle continues.
References