How do tadpoles become frogs?

 

It might be hard to believe that frogs and tadpoles could be related because they look so different, but tadpoles are really just baby frogs, waiting to grow up! 

Tadpoles actually start as a batch of eggs in the water, which hatch into lots of tiny little tadpoles! Usually a mother frog lays lots of eggs all at once, sometimes a few thousand, because some get eaten by creatures like fish and birds, and they don’t all survive. 

When they hatch, the babies are in the form of little tadpoles with just gills, a tail, and a mouth. They attach themselves to some underwater plants where they stay until they’re big enough to swim free in the water!

After several weeks, the tadpoles begin to go through even more changes. They grow teeth, hind-legs, forelegs, and develop a more distinct head. They also start to eat small insects and plants. Eventually, the tadpole’s tail gets shorter and it grows lungs, which will allow it to breathe on land. (Instead of using its gills to breathe in water.) – The little tadpole is now no longer a tadpole, but a full-grown frog! The whole process takes about 11-16 weeks, and once it’s complete, the grown-up frog can lay eggs, and the cycle can start over again!

Frogs are a type of creature known as “amphibians.” Amphibians (like frogs and newts) are very similar to reptiles (like lizards and snakes) in many ways: Both types of animals give birth to their babies by laying eggs, and are unable to control their body temperature without an outside source. However, amphibians are different in that they live both in water and on land and are always in a different form when they are born than they are when they’re fully grown… just like a tadpole and frog!

Even though amphibians are special because they’re born with different features than they grow to have as adults, there are other non-amphibian animals who can also go through a lot of changes while they grow!

What are some other creatures that look really different as babies compared to when they’re fully grown? Think about a chicken, who starts out as just a fuzzy little chick! Or what about a butterfly -- they start out as a tiny caterpillar!!

See if you can find some books that will show you pictures of different animals during their different stages of growth. What are some things you notice about the animals during their different phases of life??