By Sarah Kahanic
Grade: 6-8
Subject: Life Science
 Lay Eggs in Water
 Eggs don’t have shells
 Born with gills
 Cold-blooded
 Moist Skin
 Develop lungs and
legs
 Live on land at maturity
All amphibians start life as an egg in a ball of jelly. The eggs are
laid in water. The egg hatches and the young amphibian breaks out
of the jelly. We call the young of a frog or toad a tadpole. The young
amphibian has gills to breathe underwater and a tail with a fin so it
can swim. When it gets bigger it starts to grow legs. When it is full
grown it changes quickly to its adult body shape. It loses its gills and
grows lungs to breathe air. It loses its tail fin and its legs grow much
larger. Then it leaves the water to live on land. It looks like an adult
now, only much smaller.It takes a couple of years for an amphibian
to grow to its adult size. In spring the adult will return to the pond,
lake or stream where it was born to look for a mate. Then the
females lay eggs to start the cycle over again.
(Nature North)
 Frogs
 Toads
 Salamanders
 Newts
 Newts and Salamanders are both belong to the group
“Urodela” which are amphibians with four legs and a
tail at maturity. These amphibians resemble lizards
 Newts are a subset of the Salamander species
 All newts are salamanders,
but not all salamanders
are newts
Newts
Salamanders
 Poisonous
 Nocturnal
 Brightly Colored
 Spends most of life in or
 Active during the day
 More complex life cycle
(spends days away from
water)
by water
Please select the button and reread the
section on Newts before continuing
 Both Frogs and Toads belong to the group “Anura”
that lacks tails and have long hind legs well-adapted
for jumping and swimming
Frog
 two bulging eyes
Toads
 stubby bodies with short
 strong, long, webbed hind
feet that are adapted for
leaping and swimming
 smooth or slimy skin
(generally, frogs tend to
like moister environments)
 Frogs tend to lay eggs in
clusters.




hind legs (for walking
instead of hopping)
warty and dry skin (usually
preferring dryer climates)
paratoid (or poison) glands
behind the eyes
The chest cartilage of toads
is different also.
Toads tend to lay eggs in
long chains.
Please select the button and reread the
differences between toads and frogs
before continuing
Congratulations! You have
finished this mini lesson.
 This mini lesson was created
by Sarah Kahanic for EDU 103
 For more information
Email: srhkhnc@dordt.edu
 Life Science by Mc Dougal Littell (2006)
 http://www.scienceclarified.com/Al-
As/Amphibians.html
 http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/general/frogtoad.html
 http://www.flickr.com/groups/salamanders/discuss/7
2157594451142303/
 http://www.naturenorth.com/1np/Species/amphibian
/Lifcyc/Flfcyc.html