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FROGS

Frogs live in meadows and long grass near ponds and streams.  They are plentiful in every county in Ireland.  Farmers and gardeners like frogs because they eat snails, flies and other insects. 

Frogs are eaten by birds, especially the heron.  Owls eat them, if they are out at night.  Water animals such as the otter and mink eat frogs.  Foxes and rats also enjoy a frog snack!

To do

v               Make a food chain with four links.  Start with a plant and include a frog.

          __________    __________    __________    __________

Q  Is the frog a               herbivore               carnivore 

Frogs are amphibians. They can live on land and in water.   They hop on their long back legs and swim.   As tadpoles, they breathe through gills.  As adults they develop lungs for breathing, when they are on land. 

v               A tadpole breathes through        _______________

v               A frog breathes through            _______________

There is a shortage of snails and insects in winter so the frog hibernates.  Female frogs sleep in dry stone walls.  Male frogs return to lakes or ponds and stay in the mud at the bottom.   They inhale oxygen through their skin so they can spend the whole winter in this habitat.

Q       How does a frog solve the problem of food shortage in winter?

          ___________________________________________________

Q       Do male and female frogs spend the winter in the same habitat?                           

Yes              No                                      

Q       Where does a male frog hibernate?

          ___________________________________________________

Q       Where does a female frog hibernate?

      ___________________________________________________ 

In spring male frogs wake up and come to the surface of the water.  They croak and croak!  When a female hears the croak of a male she comes to the water.  This is the beginning of the mating season.  This usually takes place in February or March.  A female frog is much bigger than a male when she is bloated with eggs.  She lays her eggs in the water.  Blobs of eggs are called frogspawn.  Tadpoles develop from the frogspawn around April.  The tadpoles will have developed into frogs by July.   They leave the water at this stage.

Q       Can you remember how tadpoles and frogs breathe?  ___________________

Q       Does a male frog attract the attention of a female frog by?

                   hopping                  croaking                stamping

Q       Does a female frog lay her eggs?                            

                   on land                   in water

Frogs spend the rest of the year, until it is time to hibernate

in meadows or long grass, eating snails and insects.

Think!   What is an amphibian?

    __________________________________________________

                   Polluted streams or ponds are a threat to frogs!                                                                                                                

©text M Rollins, illustrations E Fleming