I've really enjoyed The Outdoor Hour nature study challenges that correlate with the Handbook of Nature Study. I'm sure there is ALWAYS more we could learn about the topic, but even getting in a little is more than nothing, right? The April topic was Amphibians and Reptiles, but we definitely focused on the Amphibians. Frogs, mostly. We've had a few great frog experiences this weekend, including a presentation about frogs from our local county parks system. We also spent some time with a toad at the Arbor Day festival as well. This afternoon, we decided to do more parts of the formal grid study . . .
Earlier today I asked the following:
Me: What is an amphibian?
Son: A slimy, wet creature
Me: Where does it live?
Son: In water
Me: OR
Son: . . . land
We opened the laptop for resources, pulled out a book about amphibians, and went to work! As we talked about different aspects of amphibians, I was surprised at how much they remembered from the Frogs presentation earlier this week as they seemed to be playing around instead of listening.
My husband actually questioned whether they should be reading this book as it talked about the birds and the bees, or should I say frogs and toads? We were looking at one of the older versions of the
DK Eyewitness Books: Amphibian
book.
Observe a tadpole. Draw the life cycle in your nature journal.
We found a couple resources while we worked on this . . .
Indiana DNR Frogs and Toads Page
Maryland DNRd
Sit quietly away from a pond's edge to observe a frog.
We did this at our Frogs! presentation earlier in the week.
Copy a poem about a frog into your nature journal.
We found our poem for the April Grid at Activity Village. They also have a video of the Five Speckled frog song, jokes, and more.
The Frog
I saw a little frog,
He was cuter than can be,
He was sitting on a log
And I'm sure he croaked at me!
Listen to a frog or toad in real life or online. Do your best imitation.
I told my husband I should have recorded our imitations. :-) I recently looked through all the frogs and toads that live in our area and linked to all of their calls. So, it was easy to go through their sounds after listening to what they sound like here.
Another great journey--looking forward to next month!
