Extensions

Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the Exploration & Activity you just completed.

• Lesson Assessment and Answer Key
• Readings: Read about tree frogs once thought to be extinct. Meet a scientist who discovered a new kind of parrot.
• Videos: Froggy facts—and froggy fun
• Community: Become a citizen scientist!
• Art Project: “What does the frog say?” coloring fun
• Online Resource: Hear nature sounds from around the world.
• Activity: Make a Sound Map of where you live.

Readings

These readings are free with registration at Newsela. Readings are available in English or Spanish and can be adjusted for reading level. Writing prompts and quiz questions are available for each reading.

• Meet a scientist in Mexico who found a new kind of parrot by following a bird call he had never heard before. (Grade 2)

• Read about a tree frog in India that was found, then lost, and then found again, 137 years later. (Grade 2)

Videos: Froggy Facts—and Froggy Fun!

Frogs go through amazing changes, beginning as tiny eggs that hatch into tadpoles, growing into swimming froglets, and finally hopping out of the water and onto the land.

• Watch how a frog becomes a frog in this gentle, charming animation. (2:00)

• Just for the fun of it, here's a song about amphibians. “Toad, Frog, Pollywog!” (1:06) To give your students a brain break, have them dance along with the newts!

Art Project: What Does the Frog Say?

Decorate your room with frogs that have a lot to say.

• Print out these frog coloring pages.
• Fill in the word balloon with a real or made-up word to help you remember each frog’s call.
• Get out your crayons or colored pencils—and create some frogtastic art!

Community: Become a Citizen Scientist!

Learning frog calls is fun—and it’s also a scientific tool. Scientists can tell how healthy a lake or pond is by finding out which frogs live there. And they often do this with the help of “citizen scientists”…like you!

• Watch this video to find out about citizen scientists.
• Read about a citizen science project in this article. (Grade 2 reading level)
• Would you like to help? Use this website to find a project near you, and you can become a citizen scientist, too.
  

Online Resource: Nature Sound Map

Spin an Earth globe or look on a map to pick any spot on the planet where animals live. Then use the Nature Sound Map to hear the sounds of nature there.

Talk about what you hear:

• What do you think is making the sound? Many animals or one?
• Do nearby areas sound the same? If not, how are they different?
• Listen to the sounds around you. Do you hear those kinds of nature sounds where you live?

Activity: Sound Maps

This activity comes from Project Learning Tree (PLT), an environmental education program of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Inc. Discussion questions are suggested.

Listen carefully. What do you hear around you? Create a Sound Map using this activity, or think about how animals hear.

“Sounds Around” is written with open spaces in mind, but you can make a Sound Map for wherever you live.