Monday, May 31, 2010

Science: Tadpoles in the marsh

The girls have been talking about tadpoles for weeks.

Well, they finally got their opportunity to wade in the marsh land near a local park and get their fill of tadpoles. 

Unfortunately, we were not able to collect them and bring them home to view their double life:  tadpole to frog/toad.

But there is always next year!


Our new little friends ! They had their tails.



What we learned about tadpole care:
  1. Place the tadpole in a small aquarium - only 5 to 6 in a 1-gallon container
  2. Use the pond water or spring water 
  3. Tear some lettuce or spinach leaves into pieces (boil them one minute) 
  4. Add a pinch of cornmeal
  5. Once the tadpoles grow legs, add a small piece of liver or a bit of hard-cooked egg yolk, along with the cornmeal and other foods
  6. Change their water daily (they make a lot of waste)
  7. As they grow legs, they will need to climb out of the water - they are ready to breathe air
  8. Add lily pads, floating wood or rocks to the aquarium
  9. When they have four legs, they are ready for land - it's best to release them now!


Books we enjoyed this week:

 


4 comments:

  1. Hi Monica!

    I am a First Mate on the TOS Homeschool Crew this year, and I am visiting some of the blogs that belong to the new Crew members. I love your blog! Your pictures are beautiful. My younger daughter will enjoy reading about your tadpole "adventure" once she gets up this morning. :)

    I hope you enjoy your year on the Crew as much as I enjoyed mine last year! Oh, and I signed up to follow your blog on Google Friend Connect. Have a great week!

    Blessings,

    FM Wendy

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  2. Monica, you make learning about tadpoles look so fun. After reading that, I almost hate to admit that when we found tadpoles in our swimming pool I didn't even consider it as a learning experience.

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  3. That's too bad you weren't able to take them home. We studied frogs/tadpoles a few weeks back but we weren't able to find any (didn't really look either I guess). Maybe next year :)

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  4. This looks like so much fun! Just what summer should be :)

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