Exploring Metamorphosis!

Spring is finally here! The weather was beautiful this week and we spent a lot of time outside enjoying the warmer weather and the sun! This week was especially busy because we had not one, but two picture days and I just have to give a shout out to Hayward Photography that did an outstanding job with the kiddos! I cannot wait to see the pictures when they arrive in a few weeks!

Our pond life curriculum continued with an introduction to the frog and a glimpse at their interesting life cycle.  The children were introduced to the very scientific word, "metamorphosis" and we discussed their fascinating journey from egg (aka "frogspawn" which the children loved to say!) to tadpole to froglet to frog!  In addition, the children learned about a frog's body parts, sequenced the frog metamorphosis using replicas of the stages and we read lots of frog book including factual books and silly books like the "Froggy" series by Jonathan London and the "Frog and Toad" series by Arnold Lobel.  

On Friday, we talked about the many different types of frogs and compared the differences and similarities between frogs and toads.  The children liked the glass frog and the goliath frog the best! The glass frog is neat because his belly is translucent and you can see right through to all of his innards! The goliath frog is cool because it is the largest frog in the world that can grow to be over a foot long and a whopping 7 pounds! That's a big frog! 

We are looking for your help!
If you are out in the woods this weekend and come across any frog eggs or tadpoles, scoop some up for your preschool teachers! We are keeping our eyes open too but haven't had any luck lately.  The reason why we did not simply order tadpoles through the internet is because we would not be able to release them back into our local ponds.  It is not ethical to release "internet frogs" into local ponds because more times then not these online companies do not send tadpoles that are native to our area.  If they are released back into our ponds, their presence can disrupt the delicate ecosystem.  Keep in mind, if we do find native tadpoles or eggs, we have to remember to release them back into the same pond we found them. If you encounter any tadpole sightings, you can also email me and I'll go scoop them up for the classroom :)

Important Dates and Reminders:

May 21: May gathering at the Stone Zoo, check Evite for more info
May 30: SEE closed for Memorial Day!
June 1: June tuition is due
June 11: June gathering at Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester
June 23-24: End-of-the-year school performance, save the date! More info to come soon!
July 4-8: SEE closed for summer recess
July 11: SEE summer program begins!

Check out some pictures from this week!

The tomatoes are coming! Let's hope our grass follows in our tomato's footsteps!

Sequencing the metamorphosis of a frog in the science center!

Remember our class pet, Molly?
She is an amphibian just like a frog.  However, molly breathes through her gills and a frog has lungs.  Also, Molly (an Axolotl) and frogs both go through a very similar metamorphosis!
So cool!

Investigating the parts of a frog


Play practice begins next week! We are so excited for our third annual end-of-the-year performance!

Have a great weekend!
Joanna