Frogs Are Amphibians
A tiny frog egg hatches into a wiggly tadpole that breathes underwater like a fish. Weeks later, that same little animal grows legs, loses its tail, and hops right out onto land! One animal, two totally different lives — that is what makes a frog an amphibian.
What You'll Learn
- What the word 'amphibian' means - The three stages of a frog's life - How a frog breathes in water and on land - Why frogs need both water and land to survive
What Does 'Amphibian' Mean?
The word amphibian comes from an old Greek word meaning 'two lives.' Frogs really do live two lives: they start life in water and finish life on land. Salamanders and toads are amphibians too, and they follow this same pattern.
A frog's skin is thin and can soak up water like a sponge — that's one reason frogs must stay near damp places even after they grow legs.
Stage 1: Egg
A mother frog lays her eggs in a pond, often in a clump of jelly-like blobs called frogspawn. A single frog can lay hundreds of eggs at once, because many eggs get eaten by fish and insects before they ever hatch.
Stage 2: Tadpole
When an egg hatches, out swims a tadpole. A tadpole has a long tail for swimming and gills for breathing underwater, just like a fish. Tadpoles spend their time nibbling on algae and slowly growing bigger.
Stage 3: Adult Frog
Over several weeks, the tadpole grows back legs, then front legs. Its tail shrinks smaller and smaller until it disappears completely. Its gills disappear too, and new lungs grow so the frog can breathe air, just like you do. Now it can hop out of the pond and live on land.
What does the word 'amphibian' mean?
What happens to a tadpole's tail as it becomes an adult frog?
Match each frog life stage to what it can do.
Terms
Definitions
Drag terms onto their definitions, or click a term then click a definition to match.
Draw the Frog Life Cycle
Fold a piece of paper into three sections. In section one, draw frog eggs in a pond. In section two, draw a tadpole with a tail. In section three, draw a full-grown frog with four legs and no tail. Under each drawing, write one sentence describing what that stage can do. Share your life-cycle poster with a family member and explain why frogs are called amphibians.
If you visit a pond in spring, look for frogspawn near the edges in shallow, still water — that's where frogs usually lay their eggs.
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