Homeschool Unit Study: Tadpoles

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Like many animals, the frog's life starts in an egg. Frogs will usually lay their eggs in calm areas of streams and ponds with plenty of plants. They do this to keep their eggs safe. Frog eggs are small and translucent with a little black dot in the middle. That little dot is what will eventually become a frog.

As the eggs mature, the little black dot gets bigger and bigger until it becomes a tadpole and can break out. Frog eggs will take between one to three weeks to hatch.

Tadpoles mostly eat small plants, such as algae, when they are still very young, but as they get older, they will eat bigger plants or even bugs. As the tadpole continues to grow, it eventually forms feet. This is the first step in becoming a frog. The next thing that will happen is the tail will start to shrink. At this point, the tail is still present, just smaller, and the legs are not fully functional.

Just before a tadpole truly becomes a frog, it goes through many rapid changes in a short amount of time. This process is known as metamorphosis. Other animals go through a metamorphosis as well, such as caterpillars when they turn into butterflies, or dragonflies when they go from their aquatic nymph stage to their air-born adult stage. During a frog's metamorphosis, it will finish forming its front and back legs, quickly develop lungs, and its gills will go away. It takes between 12 and 15 weeks for a frog to complete the full growth cycle.

As the frog continues its life, it will eventually find a mate and lay some eggs of its own, and the process will continue.