Amphibian and Reptile Curricula*

Grades K-4

Amphibian Alert! Education Program - Featured resource!
This downloadable lesson plan series aims to teach children what amphibians are and why amphibian population declines are important to scientists and communities throughout the world. Resources include lesson plans, a game board, a power point show and amphibian-related educational songs. These lessons are best suited for grades 2-5 and adhere to National Life Sciences Education Standards.

Amphibians and Reptiles
Using various internet sites, books, activities, and videos, students classify animals as either reptiles or amphibians. They share characteristics that are unique to amphibians and reptiles, and also characteristics both animals have in common. This lesson is best suited for grades 2-4 and adheres to National Life Sciences Education Standards.

An Integrated Lesson Comparing the Butterfly and Frog Life Cycles
Students build on their prior knowledge about the butterfly life cycle to compare and contrast the life cycles of butterflies and frogs. Students locate butterflies on the school grounds and create pictographs and models of fractions to explain their findings mathematically. Students also use a variety of resources to read about and study the food, space and air needed by butterflies and frogs to grow. They create visual and written products to demonstrate their findings. This lesson is best suited for grade 2 and adheres to North Carolina Language Arts, Math and Science Standards.

Animal Life Cycles
Students complete a performance task that requires them to collaborate with others in order to investigate the life cycles of an amphibian, an insect, and a bird. The students play the role of park rangers who are presenting information to a second-grade class on a field trip. This lesson is best suited for grades 3-4 and adheres to Louisiana State Science Standards.

Dress Like a Frog
Amphibians have many adaptations that allow them to survive and thrive in almost any habitat. This is a demonstration that involves a volunteer dressing like a frog to show the various adaptations. This activity is best suited for grades K-2 and adheres to National Science Education Standards.

Frog Metamorphosis
Students observe an animation of frog metamorphosis and describe this process. They use camouflage patterns to learn how tadpoles have to be camouflaged with their surroundings in order to survive. Students write a story about what it would be like for them to grow up from a tadpole to a frog. This lesson is best suited for grades 3-5 and adheres to National and Ohio State Science Standards.

Frog-tastic
Students participate in a variety of frog activities followed by a frog search and careful observation of discoveries. Students describe the basic requirements, adaptations, and life cycle of frogs. This lesson is best suited for grades 2-4 and adheres to Michigan State Science Standards.

Green Wilma is Missing!
This lesson is designed to be used after students have been exposed to animal classification, especially the characteristics of amphibians. The class reads Green Wilma by Arnold Lobel and responds through art and written expression. This lesson is best suited for grades 3-5 and adheres to North Carolina Science Standards.

Investigation 12 - Amphibians and Reptiles
Students compare and contrast the behavior and structure of reptiles and amphibians. This lesson is designed to focus on Utah's reptiles and amphibians but could be modified for any state. It is best suited for grade 4 and adheres to Utah Science Standards.

Leaping Into Frogs
Students observe and examine frogs, and they compare and contrast frogs and toads. They explain the process of metamorphosis, illustrate the life cycle and make a food chain. After completion, students will have gained an understanding of how frogs fit into the ecosystem. This lesson is best suited for grades 2-3 and adheres to South Carolina State Science Standards.

Survival of the Mutant Toad
The purpose of this lesson is to learn about camouflage and how it is essential for certain animals' survival. The lesson involves using white and brown beans to represent albino and pigmented toads. This lesson is best suited for grades 3-6 and adheres to Missouri State Science Standards.

 

Grades 5-8

All About Amphibians
Amphibians at home and around the world need your help. By participating in this curriculum, you and your students learn about amphibians and their unique and amazing biology, behavior and habitat needs, along with their colorful role in myths, folklore and literature. You may also collect important data and natural history observations herpetologists can use in understanding what's happening to amphibians here at home. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-8 and adheres to National Science Education Standards and Alaska Science Content Standards.

Frogs: Fact and Folklore
Students explore the importance of frogs in their local habitat through research, exploration and discussion. They also discover why a frog is uniquely suited to its habitat. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-8 and adheres to McRel Science Academic Content Standards.

Frog Metamorphosis
Students observe an animation of frog metamorphosis and describe this process. They use camouflaged patterns to learn how tadpoles have to be camouflaged with their surroundings in order to survive. Students write a story about what it would be like for them to grow up from a tadpole to a frog. This lesson is best suited for grades 3-5 and adheres to National and Ohio State Science Standards.

FROGS WebQuest
What can we learn about environmental problems from frog population declines? Follow the scavenger hunt, do some exploring of your own, and discover many interesting and useful facts about frogs and other amphibians. See how capable you are of dissecting a frog and putting it back together. Play a game designed to increase your understanding of simple frog behaviors like eating, jumping and survival. This lesson is best suited for grades 5-6 and adheres to California State Science Content Standards.

Green Wilma is Missing!
This lesson is designed to be used after students have been exposed to animal classification, especially the characteristics of amphibians. The class reads Green Wilma by Arnold Lobel and responds through art and written expression. This lesson is best suited for grades 3-5 and adheres to North Carolina Science Standards.

Leapin' Lizards
Students compare and contrast reptiles and amphibians. As a class, students discuss the yellow-spotted lizard mentioned in the novel Holes. Using internet resources, students research facts about reptiles and amphibians and document their findings on a provided worksheet. This lesson is best suited for grades 5-8 and adheres to National Technology, Science and Language Arts Standards.

Prairie Scales and Prairie Smoothies
Students explore the animals that live on the prairie and identify differences between amphibians and reptiles. They also discover the adaptations that help reptiles and amphibians survive on the prairie. This lesson is best suited for grades 5-7 and adheres to Illinois State Learning Benchmarks.

Reviled and Revered: Toads, Turtles, Snakes, Salamanders, and Other Creepers and Crawlers
Students examine misconceptions about herps (the collective name given to reptiles and amphibians), how herps have been viewed throughout history, and how reptiles and amphibians are similar to and different from one another. This lesson plan is best suited for grades 5-8 and adheres to McRel Science Academic Content Standards.

Survival of the Mutant Toad
The purpose of this lesson is to learn about camouflage and how it is essential for certain animals' survival. The lesson involves using white and brown beans to represent albino and pigmented toads. This lesson is best suited for grades 3-6 and adheres to Missouri State Science Standards.

The Art of Adaptation
Students examine and discuss animal adaptation. They read an article about snakes, conduct research on ways animals adapt, develop a diagram, and write a short story written from the perspective of the animal they researched. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12 and adheres to McRel Science Academic Content Standards.

The Case of the Missing Anurans
The activity is centered on two characters, Sheerluck Biomes and Dr. Newt Watson, who investigate the many reasons why amphibian populations are declining. Use this story and set of clues to have your students help solve this case. This lesson is best suited for grades 5-8 and adheres to Minnesota Graduation Standards and National Science Education Standards.

There's No Place Like Home?
In this lesson, students learn how conservationists have collected endangered frogs from a Central American rainforest in an attempt to save different species from extinction by the lethal chytrid fungus. They then take part in a "fishbowl" discussion on the various aspects of "in situ" versus "ex situ" conservation. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12 and adheres to McRel Science Academic Content Standards.

Why So Many Frogs?
Students explain the different stages in the growth of a frog, then analyze and collect data to make generalizations about a larger population. They determine the survival rate of a population of tadpoles under controlled conditions. This lesson is best suited for grades 5-7 and adheres to McRel Science Academic Content Standards.

 

Grades 9-12

Alarming Frogs: the Life and Work of Emerging Explorer Tyrone Hayes
Students learn about the life and work of Tyrone Hayes, a herpetologist. Hayes uses laboratory and field study on frogs to study how chemical contamination of water affects frog development. This lesson is best suited for grades 9-12 and adheres to National Geography Standards.

Frogwatch USA
Frogwatch USA is a frog and toad monitoring program that gives students the opportunity to help scientists conserve amphibians! With as little as 20 minutes a week you can collect essential information to protect frogs and toads. This is a national volunteer frog monitoring program that would be ideal for classes in grades 9-12.

Graphing Toad/Frog Respiration
This is an activity which uses frogs or toads to demonstrate scientific method, by measuring the respiration rate, as well as the other external features of the live specimen. This experiment is designed to teach the purpose of control in science, the importance of care toward the experimental animal, and the method of graphing the results. This lesson is best suited for grades 9-12 and adheres to National Science Education Standards.

Island Biogeography and Evolution
Students develop likely phylogenies for seven related populations of lizards living on the Canary Islands using real data. They organize charts, and record the data for geography, geology, morphology, and molecular genetics. This lesson is best suited for grades 10-12 and adheres to California State Science Content Standards.

Species Diversity and Phylogeny
This interactive phylogeny activity is designed to help students understand the distribution of the Ensatina species of salamander in California and how this distribution affects the evolution of new species. The distribution of subspecies forms a kind of a "ring" around the San Joaquin Valley. This phenomenon is considered a classic example of the theory of evolution and is often used as counter to critics of the theory. This lesson plan is best suited for grades 9-12 and adheres to National Science Education Standards and California State Science Content Standards.

The Art of Adaptation
Students examine and discuss animal adaptation. They read an article about snakes, conduct research on ways animals adapt, develop a diagram, and write a short story written from the perspective of the animal they researched. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12 and adheres to McRel Science Academic Content Standards.

The Whole Frog Project
The online Whole Frog Project provides high school students the opportunity to dissect and assemble a virtual frog online as an alternative to classroom dissection. Students can explore the anatomy of a frog by using data from high resolution MRI imaging and from mechanical sectioning, together with 3D surface and volume rendering software to visualize the anatomical structures of the intact animal. This activity is best suited for grades 9-12 and adheres to National Science Education Standards.

There's No Place Like Home?
In this lesson, students learn how conservationists have collected endangered frogs from a Central American rainforest in an attempt to save different species from extinction by the lethal chytrid fungus. They then take part in a "fishbowl" discussion on the various aspects of "in situ" versus "ex situ" conservation. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12 and adheres to McRel Science Academic Content Standards.

Do you have amphibian or reptile curricula you'd like to share?  Email it to us!

*The curricula listed on this webpage have been selected in light of their adherence to state, national, and/or NAAEE educational standards and are thus suitable for classroom use.