View as Microsoft Word* | View as PDF
Observation Journal Questions—Pond Water and Pollywogs
These questions are posed at different learning points in the unit. Students are encouraged to respond through drawing and writing, or dictation. Students can copy vocabulary from a unit word bank poster that has developed through the course of the unit. Possible responses are shown in parentheses.
- What makes a frog a frog? (Frogs are amphibians, so they live in water and on land at different life stages. Frogs have squat bodies, long muscular hind legs, moist smooth skin, and bulging eyes.)
- How do frogs grow? (Ask this question repeatedly through the course of the unit.)
- How are frogs and toads different? (Frogs have strong, long, webbed hind feet for leaping and swimming, Frogs have smooth or slimy skin. Frogs tend to like moist environments, and they lay eggs in clusters. Toads have stubby bodies with short hind legs for walking instead of hopping. Toads have warty and dry skin, are usually found in drier climates, and they tend to lay eggs in long chains.)
- What do tadpoles and frogs eat? (Tadpoles eat algae, tiny pond creatures, and decomposing plant and animal material. Adult frogs hunt insects and worms mostly, but also eat smaller fish and frogs.)
- What does a frog habitat look like? How does this habitat help frogs?
- What does our classroom habitat for frogs need?
- What is pH, and what can it tell us about the health of a pond?
- What changes happen to a frog egg while becoming a frog?
- What is needed for a healthy frog habitat?
- What is the life cycle of a frog?
- What do you know about frogs now that you didn’t know before?
- What frog questions would you like to investigate next?
< Return to Pond Water and Pollywogs