Freddo the Frog

We had a new friend in our class today. Freddo the frog joined us. Matson found him clinging to a stick outside Room 4 and brought him in to show us. Everyone was very excited especially when Freddo hopped across the mat. The children researched frogs on the internet and decided that Freddo looked like a Whistling Tree Frog, found in New Zealand and Australia. We found out that frogs die if their skin dries out. We decided that he had strayed into the school grounds because of all the puddles from the heavy rain. Freddo seemed comfortable in the habitat we created for him: twigs, leaves, stones and a little pond inside a plastic container. We noticed that he liked hiding under the rocks and leaves. He might have been a bit frightened. We could see his heart beating. His skin was light brown when it was dry but changed to a much darker brown in the wet environment. We thought he might be camouflaging himself among the stones and twigs. We found out that frogs like to eat mealworms and flies and they don't have eyelids. The children gathered lots of information about frogs. They selected the keywords in the information they were reading and then used the keywords to write their own sentences. We decided it wouldn't be a good idea to leave Freddo in the classroom on his own overnight so Matson took him home and he will either set him free or bring him in again tomorrow. Thanks so much to Matson's mum for being a great sport!