Introduction
You have just landed into the world of amphibians where frogs are the rulers of the ponds, lakes, and rivers! For this adventure, each of you will be tasked to explore and analyze what exactly makes frogs so interesting; their unique adaptations, role in the ecosystems, and very own life cycles. By the end of your adventure, you will have the knowledge and be able to share your own discoveries on how these unique and leaping creatures are able to thrive and survive throughout various conditions and environments.
Task
For this adventure, you will have a few tasks to explore, analyze, and reveal how frogs are able to biologically condition themselves for their environment and adapt overtime.
1. To first understand how frogs come of this world, you will need to investigate their life cycles from the time they were an egg, to a mature adult.
2. We will then dive deeper into what makes a frog a frog! You will be tasked to examine the anatomy, including all of its features such as internal and external. Ever wondered why some frogs are slimy and some are not?
3. After understanding the anatomy, you will get to reveal why frogs are so different from one another. By exploring various adaptations of frogs observed in different areas of the world that helps frogs live in water, live on land, or thrive in both water and land.
4. After figuring out all factors on what makes a frog unique, you will thoroughly evaluate the importance of frogs within ecosystems and what roles do they play that are beneficial or harmful to the environment. If you want to go the extra mile, you can also add any existing threats that they face or if they are a threat to others.
5. Lastly, for the final product, you will be requested to create a PowerPoint, poster, or infographic featuring your findings and your personal thoughts about the research you conducted and your favorite learned fact.
Process
Step 1: Meet the worlds most unique amphibian, the frog
Visit this website: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians and jot down key facts and ideas about what exactly makes a frog an amphibian rather than to be considered a reptile.
Step 2: From egg, to tadpole, to frog
Review this short video
Design a visual diagram showing how the frog develops within its life cycle, label and describe what happens through each of its stages.
Step 3: Frog anatomy
Visit this virtual lab https://gizmos.explorelearning.com/find-gizmos/lesson-info?resourceId=1097 and explore the ins and outs of the frog. Below the visual diagram of your explanation of the life cycle of a frog, draw a frog list, and label parts of the frog's anatomy. Please provide a few intriguing facts about the functions of an organ that stood out to you.
Step 4: Adaptations and roles in ecosystems
Please complete the following reading: https://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/adaptations-frogs Write down your findings and provide 3 interesting facts on how different species of frog adapt to survive. Once completed write a short, concise paragraph explaining why or why not frogs are important to ecosystems determining on which species you were most intrigued by.
Step 5: Present
Create a fun, educational Powerpoint, poster, or infographic from the findings, and discuss amongst peers which frog species you found to be most exotic and why you chose it.
Evaluation
Evaluation:
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Accuracy of understanding content
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3. Excellent provided detailed information, presented facts and deep analysis to support their findings | 2. Good shows accuracy with minor errors, remains on topic | 1. Needs additional work little to no supported evidence, lack of description, incomplete information |
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Engagement and creativity
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3. Excellent the project is completed and contains detailed design | 2. Good the project design is clear and informational showing some creativity | 1. Needs additional work lacks creativity and effort |
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Presentation and Organization
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3. Excellent very easy to read and information is labeled accordingly | 2. Good project is mostly organized with few misplacements | 1. Needs additional work project is messy and hard to depict |
Conclusion
You have now deeply explored about what makes a frog, a frog! From the starting point of their life cycle, all the way to their significant roles within our very own ecosystem. Frogs aren't just slimy creatures that live among us, they are unquestionably unique and have helped with many projects, research, and more. As we put an end to our WebQuest, a thought to reflect on would be to think about how protecting frogs and their ecosystems can help protect our planet too.
Credits
Credits:
- National Geographic Kids. (n.d.). Amphibians. Retrieved from https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians
- SciShow Kids. (2015, June 8). The life cycle of a frog! [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmlaclb3K2o
- ExploreLearning. (n.d.). Frog Dissection Virtual Lab [Interactive Gizmo, Resource #1097]. Retrieved from https://gizmos.explorelearning.com/find-gizmos/lesson-info?resourceId=1097
- Perkins Hanissian, R. (2024, April 1). The fascinating adaptations of frogs. The Outside Story. Retrieved from https://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/adaptations-frogs
Teacher Page
Students get the opportunity to virtually explore the biology of frogs through interactive resources and other media to thoroughly understand their life cycles, anatomy, unique adaptations, and if the species of frog they chose is ecologically beneficial or destructive. They will follow along with given objectives, and complete organized Powerpoint, infographic, or poster to present their findings and opinions. Students will be evaluated based off of content accuracy, engagement, creativity, presentation, and organization.