Why are Frogs Green? (Camouflage Activity)

Materials

• 1 large piece of green paper
• 1 small piece of green paper
• 1 small piece of yellow paper
• penny
• pencil
• scissors 
• paper cup
• timer 

Directions

• Trace a penny 15 times on the small green paper.
• Trace a penny 15 times on the small yellow paper.
• Cut out all the circles.
• Mix and place the circles in a small paper cup.
• Pour and spread out the circles on the large piece of green paper.
• Set a timer for 15 seconds.
• Pick up as many circles as you can in the 15 seconds.
• Count the circles. How many were green? How many were yellow?
• Which color was easier to find? Why?
• Compare results with other students.
• How does a frog's color help it survive (from predators) in its environment?

Students can work in pairs to complete the activity then all of the students could compare their results.

Explanation:  Many frogs are green because their environment is green. This is a result of the animals' many years of adaptation to their environment. Frogs that are green use camouflage to hide from predators.

 If students want to learn more about camouflage, here are some good books for kids.

  

 

 

Origami Jumping Frog Craft Project

Frogs are amphibians that are known for jumping and leaping really high.

Most adult amphibians have strong muscular limbs adapted for movement on land. The legs of frogs have adaptations for leaping. Leaping requires powerful hind legs and a skeleton that can absorb the shock of landing.

The kids might enjoy making an origami jumping frog from a square piece of paper. When finished they can see how high they can make their frog jump.

Origami Jumping Frog

Materials

• square piece of paper
• pencil/marker

  

Directions for an origami frog can be found on Enchanted Learning's website by clicking here.


Math Extension

To incorporate math into this project, children can predict then measure measure how high their frogs jump. Older children can find the average of all their frogs' jumps.


 Language Arts Extension


The children might enjoy listening to or reading this wonderful book from National Geographic or another book about frogs.





____________________________________________________ 

 Enjoy learning about frogs.

Here's another great frog book!

Frogs by Gail Gibbons

Frog Paper Bag Puppet Crafts Project

The kids might enjoy making this fun frog paper bag puppet craft project and reading some fun frog books to go along with their study of amphibians.

Materials

• paper bag
• green construction paper or green paint
• crayons, colored pencils, or paint
• scissors
• printer and 1 piece of printer paper
• template from DLTK

The templates and directions are from DLTK's Crafts for Kids.

Click Here: Frog Paper Bag Template and Directions 

_________________________________________________________________

Suggested Fiction and Non-Fiction Frog Books


   

 

    

 

Plus, here is a free Amphibians Words Search Puzzle for your students! 

Amphibian Word Search Puzzle

This free worksheet is posted at my website on the science page (https://www.LearningWorkroom.com).

Learning Workroom Website

Just click HERE to go directly to my website to get your FREE copy!

Have fun learning about frogs!

Bill Nye Video - Amphibians

Bill Nye has a great video on AMPHIBIANS that can sometimes be found at your local library.

Edit: This video is no longer available at the website that was previously given.  You may be able to obtain a copy for viewing from your local library.

Bill does a great job teaching us about amphibians. He discusses amphibian characteristics as well as their metamorphosis. The kids will learn which amphibian is the BIGGEST in the world and lots of other interesting and amazing facts! 

Get ready to have fun with Bill Nye!

Here is a free Amphibian Word Search Puzzle for your kids!

Amphibian Word Search Puzzle

This free worksheet is posted at my website on the science page (https://www.LearningWorkroom.com).

Just click HERE to go directly to my website to get your FREE copy!

 

What are Amphibians?

Amphibians 

• are vertebrates (have a backbone)
• are cold -blooded
• live partly on land and partly in the water
• hatch from eggs

Ideas and Suggestions

• Have the students brainstorm any characteristics of amphibians that they already know. (See list above.) 

• Share the above list of amphibian characteristics. (Older students can record this list in their science notebooks.)    

• Have students brainstorm a list of animals that fit these characteristics.             

               ~  frogs

             ~  toads

             ~  salamanders

             ~  newts    

Frog

Toad

Salamander

Newts

• Read a book to students about amphibians or have older students read books individually or with a partner.

  Suggested Books



   Books4Learning has a wonderful review of this book. You can read it here.



   

        
           

Coloring Book

Coloring Book

          

• After reading, have students share any new facts that they learned about amphibians.

Also here is a fun Amphibians Word Search Puzzle for kids.

Amphibians Word Search Puzzle

This free worksheet is posted at my website on the science page (https://www.LearningWorkroom.com).

Just click HERE to go directly to my website to get your FREE copy!

Have fun teaching about amphibians!

__________________________________________________________________