Raising a Tadpole at Home

Teaching Science Through Observing the Process of a Maturing Frog

Oct 13, 2008 Jennifer Wagaman

Many pet stores sell tadpoles in various stages of the maturing process. This can be a great learning tool at home.

Bring science lessons to life at home with your children by raising a tadpole. Learn how to prepare for bringing a tadpole home and how to care for the tadpole as it matures into a frog.

Preparing to Bring Tadpole Home

Before you buy your tadpole, there are a few things you need to have ahead of time including a five or ten gallon fish tank, and a filter on the tank to keep the water clean. Be prepared to do weekly water changes to help keep the water clean and free of the bacteria that can easily kill the tadpole.

You will need to feed your tadpole algae, which can be bought in wafer style at the pet store where you bought the tadpole. You will also need fake foliage, a rock and substrate of some sort for the tadpole to hide under as a mature frog.

Raising the Tadpole

Once you have purchased the tadpole, start an observation log with your children. Draw a weekly picture of what the tadpole looks like and write down any changes that you have noticed. Over several months, the tadpole will begin to change into a frog. Read books with your child that discuss the changes you are witnessing and talk about what you are learning.

Once the frog has more leg power than tail power, you will need to give the frog an area to get out of the water. Here is where you will use the substrate (dirt will work fine) rock and foliage (low lying plastic plant from a pet store will work for this) to give the frog a place to hide during the day. Elicit your children's help in making the transformation, using it as a discussion time for why you are giving the frog land and why you are giving it something to hide beneath.

Now you will need to make a decision -- will you release the frog into the wild? Or will you keep it as a pet? If you decide to keep the frog as a pet, be warned, it will need to eat a lot of crickets. The frog will most likely try to hide all day as nocturnal animals will want to come out only at night to eat. If you decide to release the frog, you need to make that decision quickly because the longer you feed the frog in captivity, the more difficult time it will have surviving in the wild.

A Cautionary Note About Tadpoles

Tadpoles can be difficult to keep and raise in captivity. Have a discussion with your child about why this might be the case. If you notice your tadpole getting thinner or looking sickly, it most likely will end up not surviving. Be prepared for a discussion on why the tadpole may have died, and be willing to try again as you may have better luck with the next one.

Raising a tadpole at home with your children helping can be a lot of fun, and a great learning experience. Take care to prepare for and carefully care for your tadpoles so that they may have a better chance of surviving until maturity.

Find more tips and info about homechooling at MyHomeschoolGuide.com

The copyright of the article Raising a Tadpole at Home in Homeschooling is owned by Jennifer Wagaman. Permission to republish Raising a Tadpole at Home in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Raising a Tadpole at Home