Raising Frog Eggs

I mentioned in the last blog about how we captured some frog eggs from the pond. I may be even more excited about this than my kids!

At first, when we were exploring the pond, I noticed the small black eggs in the gelatinous blob, but didn't know exactly what they were. Luckily I had brought a book about pond life with us, and the book had pictures of frog eggs. We decided to take a few eggs (they lay about 3,000, so I thought it would be okay to borrow some for our own scientific observation...), so we scooped them into our specimen containers and brought them back to the classroom. That night (Wed. 6/17), I googled "frog eggs" and learned, with the kids, about how to best care for them, and what to expect.

When we got to class the next day (nature camp at the rec. dept.), the eggs had changed shapes (from round to oblong). Through the magnifier, the eggs were the shape of goldfish crackers. So cool! Thursday was the last day of camp, so we brought the containers of eggs home with us, along with a larger container filled with pond water and some plant life for the future tadpoles to eat.

We've had so much fun watching the eggs change, waiting with great anticipation for them to hatch. Yesterday morning we finally woke to little tadpoles swimming around the tank! There are many of them, so we'll have to put most of them back in the pond sooner than later (you're only supposed to have 6 to a gallon of water, and right now there are over 50...oops!) Raina and Tyler are camping with their father, but Jason and I put a lily pad in the tank with them, and they promptly attached themselves to the food source.

This is one of those life experiences that I really want my kids to have, and I'm thrilled that we happened upon the opportunity. Watching tadpoles turn into frogs is an educational and interesting way to pass the time. Who needs tv when we have a tank full of little emerging life to marvel at?

And don't worry- the kids all know that when the metamorphosis is complete, the frogs will have to go back to their home in their native pond. We're just helping increase the odds that they'll survive the journey, while enriching our minds in the process. :)