R - Reptiles

Rr - Reptiles

Letter: Rr

The children will have fun learning about reptiles and amphibians. They will learn what reptiles and amphibians are. They will learn about snakes, turtles, lizards, frogs, crocodiles and more. All activities will be fun and informational. Children will have fun with many hands on activities and worksheets that will guide them through life cycles, habitats, locations, and lives of many different reptiles and amphibians. Reproducible patterns and worksheets are included.

Letter Activities
Using the provided letter R outline do the following:

Look through magazines for pictures of reptiles and glue them on the letter R
OR
Pretend the letter R is a reptile, color on scales, claws, eyes, etc.
OR
Draw in letter R’s

AMPHIBIANS
Amphibians Are: Frogs, toads, salamanders and caecilians. The word means double life—many species spend part of their life in the water and part of their live on land. Because they don’t have a shell or scales, most amphibians live in wet or damp situations to prevent dehydration In this theme unit we will learn about the frog.

Frogs
Frogs spend part of their life cycle on land and some in water. The earliest known frog appeared during the late Jurassic period, about 190 million years ago. Some frogs have claws, like the African clawed toad.

Frogs and toads are carnivores that is, they eat other animals, typically bugs and worms. Frogs are beneficial to humans because they eat so many insect pests. Some large species of frogs, like the African Bullfrog will try to eat just about anything, including other frogs as well as small fish, reptiles, and mammals

There are lots of animals like alligators, snakes, and owls that think that frogs make tasty snacks. Frogs don’t have sharp teeth or claws to defend themselves, the best thing they can do to avoid being eaten is to escape as fast as they can by jumping. Some frogs can jump up to 20 times their body length in a single leap. When disturbed, frogs often jump into a puddle or pond where they can hide underwater.

In most frog species only the males croak. They croak to attract female frogs.

A myth about toads giving you warts probably started because many toads have bumps on their skin that look like warts. The large bumps behind the toad’s ears and contain a nasty poison. It not only tastes bad but irritates the mouth of any predators who try to eat toads. You should be careful in handling toads and always wash your hands afterwards.

Did you know it can actually rain frogs? It doesn’t happen very often, but there are several known instances where frogs have been sucked up by tornadoes or violent winds associated with thunderstorms, and dropped down out of the sky miles from their ponds.

Some Fun Facts About Frogs

Frogs absorb water through their skin so they don’t need to drink. The eyes and nose of a frog are on top of its head so it can breathe and see when most of its body is under the water.Frogs need both water and land to live. A frog can change the color of its skin depending on its surroundings. Frogs have long back legs and webbed feet for jumping and swimming. Frogs usually eat meat (bugs and worms) and swallow their food whole. The world’s biggest frog is the goliath frog from Cameroon in West Africa. Their body can be one-foot long. The smallest frogs in the world are less than half-an-inch long.

Frog Jokes for Kids

Q: Why are frogs so happy? A: They eat whatever bugs them!

Q: How does a frog feel when he has a broken leg? A: Unhoppy.

Q: What did the frog order at McDonald’s? A: French flies and a diet Croak

Q: How deep can a frog go? A: Knee-deep Knee-deep!

Q: What do stylish frogs wear? A: Jumpsuits!

Frog Life Cycle
The egg begins as a single cell. It is covered by a jellylike coating which protects the egg. The egg slowly develops. The Cell Splits

The single cell in the egg eventually splits into two. These two split making four cells, and so on. Eventually, there are many cells in the egg.

The mass of cells in the egg form an embryo. The organs and gills start to form.

After a 21 days the embryo leaves its jelly shell, and attaches itself to a weed in the water. This quickly becomes a tadpole. The tadpole has a long tail, and lives in the water.

After about five weeks the tadpole begins to change. It starts to grow hindlegs, and forelegs. Lungs begin to develop, preparing the frog for its life on land.

The tadpole becomes more frog like. Its mouth widens, and it loses its horny jaws. The tail becomes much smaller, and the legs grow.

Eleven weeks after the egg was laid, a fully developed frog with lungs, legs, and no tail emerges from the water. This frog will live mostly on land, with occasional swims.

What’s the difference between a frog and a toad?
Frogs usually have smooth, moist skin and spend most of their lives in or near water. Toads usually have dry, warty-looking skin and spend more time living on land.

REPTILES
Reptiles Are: Cold-blooded vertebrates. They evolved from amphibians and some developed into birds and mammals. Reptiles were an important part of the prehistoric animals. Extinct reptiles include dinosaurs. Living reptiles include crocodiles, lizards, turtles, and snakes.

Reptiles are also better adapted to living on land. They have dry skin, but the skin is covered by scales instead of feathers like birds or hair like mammals.. These scales form a waterproof barrier of skin, which allows reptiles to exist away from water

More than 6,000 species of reptiles live in the warm, temperate regions of the world.

In this theme unit we will mainly learn about the turtle.

Turtles
Turtles are reptiles with a scaly shell encasing their bodies. They can be found in freshwater, and marine habitats. All living turtles are toothless. Since they have no external ear openings, they hearing is is not good.

During cold periods of the year, turtles hibernate. Turtles can breath through the tissues of the skin while underwater so they can go for weeks or months without breathing air directly.

Turtles can live for about 50 years in captivity, which is longer than most animals. Even in the wild, some turtles have an estimated life expectancy of 30 to 50 years.

Turtles do not make noise except when they are mating, or when they suffer from pneumonia.

They eat both plant and animal matter, living or dead. Instead of chewing food, turtles force pieces of food down to the stomach with their strong throat muscles.

Crocodiles
Crocodiles have developed many things to help them survive in water. While swimming, the only things the crocodiles expose are their eyes, nostrils, flat tail, and webbed toes. They can open their mouths underneath water without choking because of a special valve in the throat. Water is also kept out by the tightly closed nostrils and the flaps on the ears. To allow them to see underwater, crocodiles have a third eyelid.

Crocodiles eat frogs, birds, fish, and small mammals. Larger crocodile species feed on large mammals like antelope, deer, and pigs. Most of a crocodile’s hunting is done at night after a long rest during the daytime.

Lizards Lizards are the largest group of reptiles. They are found everywhere in the world except Antarctica. Lizards can change color. The skin color gets darkened or lightened in response to light, temperature, or emotional state.

Lizards are cold-blooded animals, meaning their body temperatures are affected by the environment. Like many reptiles, lizards hibernate during colder times of the year. When a predator approaches, lizards try to ward them off by hissing, inflating the body, biting, scratching, and lashing with the tail. Lizards eat insects, some lizards eat plants.

The horned lizards may even eject blood from their eyes. Some lizards’ spiny scales make it difficult for a predator to swallow them. When caught by a predator, many lizards break their tails off their own body and a new tail is eventually grown. This does not harmed the lizard in any way. The new tail is different in color and in the size.

Snakes
Snakes are long, limbless reptiles. They can be found throughout the world, from the tropics to arid deserts to shallow seas to the cold regions of Scandinavia and Siberia. Find these locations on a map or globe.

Snakes cannot maintain body heat, their body temperatures depend on the conditions around them. Because of this, snakes are said to be cold-blooded. Cold winter temperatures force snakes to hibernate underground. They remain inactive, living on stored fat, until more favorable conditions return.

Snakes are carnivores. Some only eat snails or eggs. They can also feed on earthworms, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles (including other snakes), birds, or small mammals. Snakes find food by sight or by smell and by heat-sensitive pits, when present. Most snakes only hunt during the day or during the night, but there are species who are active throughout the day.

Life Cycles
Did you know metamorphosis is when...
Various animals undergo changes in their body as they grow. For instance, frogs lay eggs which grow into tadpoles, which change into froglets and finally grow to be an adult frog. Butterflies are another example of animals that undergo metamorphosis, from a caterpillar to a flying butterfly.

Crafts

Paper Plate Turtle
Use a paper plate as the turtle body. Paint the underside of the plate green with black lines, cut out front legs, hind legs and a head and glue to the paper plate.

Turtle Mobile
Use the turtle outlines to color, cut out and make a mobile to hang from the ceiling.

Box Turtles
Use the turtle outlines to color and cut out. Decorate a shoe box like a turtles habitat, glue the turtles in place.

Nut Shell Turtles
Use a half of a walnut shell for the turtles shell. Paint it green. Glue on feet and a head.

Turtle Mask
Make a turtle mask from a paper plate. Paint it green, add ties and cut eye holes.

Turtle Cookies
Use your favorite sugar cookie recipe or use the slice and bake. Make round cookies, frost them green. Add red hots for eyes, cut fruit roll ups in the shape of the legs, or roll the roll up for more dimension. Do the same for the head, attach to the bottom of the cookie using frosting.

Nylon Snake
Use an old panty hose leg. Fill it with finberfill and tie it off at the end. Glue on a wiggly eyes and a red felt tongue. Decorate with sequins or fabric markers.

Playdough Snakes
Use green playdough or clay. Roll it out in a snake shape. Add beads for eyes and a pieces of felt for a tongue.

Snake Cookies
Use a sugar cookie dough, roll it in the shape of a snake. Decorate it with frosting. Have fun eating your snake.

Additional Activities

Be a Frog
Pretend you are a frog, jump like frog, croak like a frog and eat worms (gummy ones that is)

Reading
Read books about lizards and iguanas.

Find on the map where they live.

What do they eat?

What do they look like?

Maps and Globes
Use a map or a globe to locate where some reptiles and amphibians live. Use a book or the computer to get this information.

Field Trips
Visit a library to obtain more information on repriles and amphibians.

Visit a zoo or nature center that may have live reptiles and amphibians on display.

Famous Frogs and Turtles
Watch a movie about a frog or a turtle.

Can you think of some famous frogs and turtles that are TV? How about Kermit the Frog and Franklin the Turtle.

If you have any stuffed animal frogs or turtles show and tell them.

Make paper bag puppets of Kermit and Franklin

Read stories about Kermit and Franklin

Froggy Tales
Read the froggy tales on the following pages. Act them out with stuffed animals and dolls if you can.

Make a book about the story writing short sentences and drawing pictures.

Change the story to make a new ending.

Dress up like a prince or a princess.

What other fairey tales do you know that have a prince or a princess in it?

Froggy Tales

The Frog Prince
A translation of the Grimms’ Frog King by Edgar Taylor
One fine evening a young princess went into a wood, and sat down by the side of a cool spring of water. She had a golden ball in her hand, which was her favorite plaything, and she amused herself with tossing it into the air and catching it again as it fell. After a time she threw it up so high that when she stretched out her hand to catch it, the ball bounded away and rolled along upon the ground, till at last it fell into the spring. The princess looked into the spring after her ball; but it was very deep, so deep that she could not see the bottom of it. Then she began to lament her loss, and said, Alas! If I could only get my ball again, I would give all my fine clothes and jewels, and everything that I have in the world. Whilst she was speaking a frog put its head out of the water and said, Princess, why do you weep so bitterly? Alas! said she, What can you do for me, you nasty frog? My golden ball has fallen into the spring.

The frog said, I want not your pearls and jewels and fine clothes; but if you will love me and let me live with you, and eat from your little golden plate, and sleep upon your little bed, I will bring you your ball again.
What nonsense. thought the princess, This silly frog is talking! He can never get out of the well. However, he may be able to get my ball for me; and therefore I will promise him what he asks. So she said to the frog, Well, if you will bring me my ball, I promise to do all you require.
Then the frog put his head down, and dived deep under the water; and after a little while he came up again with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the ground. As soon as the young princess saw her ball, she ran to pick it up, and was so overjoyed to have it in her hand again, that she never thought of the frog, but ran home with it as fast as she could. The frog called after her, Stay, princess, and take me with you as you promised. But she did not stop to hear a word.
The next day, just as the princess had sat down to dinner, she heard a strange noise, tap-tap, as if somebody was coming up the marble staircase. And soon afterwards something knocked gently at the door, and said,
Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool in the greenwood shade.
Then the princess ran to the door and opened it, and there she saw the frog, whom she had quite forgotten. She was terribly frightened, and shutting the door as fast as she could, came back to her seat. The king, her father, asked her what had frightened her. There is a nasty frog, said she, at the door, who lifted my ball out of the spring this morning. I promised him that he should live with me here, thinking that he could never get out of the spring; but there he is at the door and wants to come in!
While she was speaking the frog knocked again at the door, and said,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool in the greenwood shade
. The king said to the young princess, As you have made a promise, you must keep it. So go and let him in.
She did so, and the frog hopped into the room, and came up close to the table. Pray lift me upon a chair, said he to the princess, and let me sit next to you. As soon as she had done this, the frog said, Put your plate closer to me that I may eat out of it. This she did. And when he had eaten as much as he could, he said, Now I am tired. Carry me upstairs and put me into your little bed.
And the princess took him up in her hand and put him upon the pillow of her own little bed, where he slept all night long. As soon as it was light he jumped up, hopped downstairs, and went out of the house.
Now, thought the princess, he is gone, and I shall be troubled with him no more. But she was mistaken; for when night came again, she heard the same tapping at the door, and when she opened it, the frog came in and slept upon her pillow as before till the morning broke.
And the third night he did the same; but when the princess awoke on the following morning, she was astonished to see, instead of the frog, a handsome prince gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes that ever were seen, and standing at the head of her bed.
He told her that he had been enchanted by a malicious fairy, who had changed him into the form of a frog, in which he was fated to remain till some princess should take him out of the spring and let him sleep upon her bed for three nights. You, said the prince, have broken this cruel charm, and now I have nothing to wish for but that you should go with me into my father’s kingdom, where I will marry you, and love you as long as you live.
The young princess, you may be sure, was not long in giving her consent; and as they spoke a splendid carriage drove up with eight beautiful horses decked with plumes of feathers and golden harness, and behind rode the prince’s servant, the faithful Henry, who had bewailed the misfortune of his dear master so long and bitterly that his heart had well nigh burst. Then all set out full of joy for the prince’s kingdom, where they arrived safely, and lived happily a great many years.

Source: German Popular Stories, translated [by Edgar Taylor] from the Kinder und Haus Märchen, collected by M. M. Grimm, from Oral Tradition (London: C. Baldwyn, 1823), pp. 205-210
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The Frog Prince

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Germany
Once upon a time there was a king who had three daughters. In his courtyard there was a well with wonderful clear water. One hot summer day the oldest daughter went down and drew herself a glassful, but when she held it to the sun, she saw that it was cloudy. This seemed strange to her, and she was about to pour it back when a frog appeared in the water, stuck his head into the air, then jumped out onto the well’s edge, saying:
If you will be my sweetheart dear,
Then I will give you water clear.
Ugh! Who wants to be the sweetheart of an ugly frog! exclaimed the princess and ran away. She told her sisters about the amazing frog down at the well who was making the water cloudy. The second one was curious, so she too went down and drew herself a glassful, but it was so cloudy that she could not drink it. Once again the frog appeared at the well’s edge and said:
If you will be my sweetheart dear,
Then I will give you water clear.
Not I! said the princess, and ran away. Finally the third sister came and drew a glassful, but it was no better than before. The frog also said to her:
If you will be my sweetheart dear,
Then I will give you water clear.
Why not! I’ll be your sweetheart. Just give me some clean water, she said, while thinking, There’s no harm in this. You can promise him anything, for a stupid frog can never be your sweetheart.
The frog sprang back into the water, and when she drew another glassful it was so clear that the sun glistened in it with joy. She drank all she wanted and then took some up to her sisters, saying, Why were you so stupid as to be afraid of a frog?
The princess did not think anything more about it until that evening after she had gone to bed. Before she fell asleep she heard something scratching at the door and a voice singing: Open up! Open up!
Youngest daughter of the king.
Remember that you promised me
While I was sitting in the well,
That you would be my sweetheart dear,
If I would give you water clear.
Ugh! That’s my boyfriend the frog, said the princess. I promised, so I will have to open the door for him. She got up, opened the door a crack, and went back to bed. The frog hopped after her, then hopped onto her bed where he lay at her feet until the night was over and the morning dawned. Then he jumped down and disappeared out the door.
The next evening, when the princess once more had just gone to bed, he scratched and sang again at the door. The princess let him in, and he again lay at her feet until daylight came. He came again on the third evening, as on the two previous ones. This is the last time that I’ll let you in, said the princess. It will not happen again in the future. Then the frog jumped under her pillow, and the princess fell asleep. She awoke in the morning, thinking that the frog would hop away once again, but now a beautiful young prince was standing before her. He told her that he had been an enchanted frog and that she had broken the spell by promising to be his sweetheart. Then they both went to the king who gave them his blessing, and they were married. The two other sisters were angry with themselves that they had not taken the frog for their sweetheart.

Why Frogs Croak

A Tale from Native American Literature
This story was borrowed from a page on The Use of Myths in Science at the Access Excellence science education site. The myth section seems to be no longer on-line, but they’ve got a lot of other cool biology-related experiments and activities for teachers and kids at their site. Check them out!
Once, long ago, the days and nights were of varying lengths. Brother Sun made some of the days very long and the following nights could also be very long. Many of the animals did not like this. They wished the days were more regulated and even, as they are now.
The animals got together and formed a committee to ask Brother Sun to better regulate the day length. There were many animals on the committee but two of the notable ones were Frog and Grizzly Bear. They were the two chosen by the rest of the committee to survey the rest of the animals.
Grizzly wanted one long day and one long night. He ate all day and slept all night. Long days and nights seemed very logical to him. Frog, on the other hand, wanted shorter days and nights. Frog did not live very long and he wanted his rest and feeding time to be spread out so he could enjoy them. Grizzly was a big bully of a bear. He sauntered around, speaking to each of the animals about the length of the days and the nights. Because he was a bully, he growled to each animal SIX MONTHS DAY AND SIX MONTHS NIGHT, showing his big teeth and long claws. He growled to Fox, SIX MONTHS DAY AND SIX MONTHS NIGHT. Grizzly growled to Owl, SIX MONTH’S DAY AND SIX MONTHS NIGHT. He saw Fish, SIX MONTHS DAY AND SIX MONTHS NIGHT. After every animal was talked to, Grizzly wandered off to a den and took a long nap.
Frog, on the other hand, was a sociable sort of fellow. He hopped from place to place, listening to what the animals had to say. It didn’t matter to Fish what the day length was. Swimming could be done at night as well as during the day. Fox preferred dawn and dusk and wanted many of those at fairly regular intervals. Owl, on the other hand, liked to hunt at night but enjoyed sleeping during the day. Periods of six months of day and six months of night were too long for Owl.
After listening to all of the animals, Frog returned to the committee to report. After Frog’s report, the committee looked around for Grizzly. Grizzly, being a big bully, was sure that the rest of the animals would vote his way and did not bother to wake up from his long nap to return to the committee to report.
The committee weighed all the possibilities and choices, taking into consideration the opinions of all the animals surveyed. They voted. Eagle was sent to tell Brother Sun of their decision. Brother Sun agreed that their choice was possible and he changed the day length to be what we know today. The days in winter were to be short and progress to being longer until midsummer when they were again begin to shorten. The nights were to be just the opposite, going from long in winter to short in summer.
Frog was so happy about his part in the decision that he hopped from place to place, croaking, in a chirpy little voice, One day, one night. One day, one night. He was so proud of himself and his descendants are also proud. In fact, if you listen quietly just shortly after the sun sets, you may hear the frogs still croaking, One day, one night. One day, one night. One day, one night. One day, one night.

The Leap-Frog
A Flea, a Grasshopper, and a Leap-frog once wanted to see which could jump highest; and they invited the whole world, and everybody else besides who chose to come to see the festival. Three famous jumpers were they, as everyone would say, when they all met together in the room.
I will give my daughter to him who jumps highest, exclaimed the King; for it is not so amusing where there is no prize to jump for.
The Flea was the first to step forward. He had exquisite manners, and bowed to the company on all sides; for he had noble blood, and was, moreover, accustomed to the society of man alone; and that makes a great difference.
Then came the Grasshopper. He was considerably heavier, but he was well-mannered, and wore a green uniform, which he had by right of birth; he said, moreover, that he belonged to a very ancient Egyptian family, and that in the house where he then was, he was thought much of. The fact was, he had been just brought out of the fields, and put in a pasteboard house, three stories high, all made of court-cards, with the colored side inwards; and doors and windows cut out of the body of the Queen of Hearts. I sing so well, said he, that sixteen native grasshoppers who have chirped from infancy, and yet got no house built of cards to live in, grew thinner than they were before for sheer vexation when they heard me.
It was thus that the Flea and the Grasshopper gave an account of themselves, and thought they were quite good enough to marry a Princess.
The Leap-frog said nothing; but people gave it as their opinion, that he therefore thought the more; and when the housedog snuffed at him with his nose, he confessed the Leap-frog was of good family. The old councilor, who had three orders given him to make him hold his tongue, asserted that the Leap-frog was a prophet; for that one could see on his back, if there would be a severe or mild winter, and that was what one could not see even on the back of the man who writes the almanac.
I say nothing, it is true, exclaimed the King; but I have my own opinion, notwithstanding Now the trial was to take place. The Flea jumped so high that nobody could see where he went to; so they all asserted he had not jumped at all; and that was dishonorable.
The Grasshopper jumped only half as high; but he leaped into the King’s face, who said that was ill-mannered.
The Leap-frog stood still for a long time lost in thought; it was believed at last he would not jump at all.
I only hope he is not unwell, said the house-dog; when, pop! he made a jump all on one side into the lap of the Princess, who was sitting on a little golden stool close by.
Hereupon the King said, There is nothing above my daughter; therefore to bound up to her is the highest jump that can be made; but for this, one must possess understanding, and the Leap-frog has shown that he has understanding. He is brave and intellectual.
And so he won the Princess.
“It’s all the same to me, said the Flea. She may have the old Leap-frog, for all I care. I jumped the highest; but in this world merit seldom meets its reward. A fine exterior is what people look at now-a-days.
The Flea then went into foreign service, where, it is said, he was killed.
The Grasshopper sat without on a green bank, and reflected on worldly things; and he said too, “Yes, a fine exterior is everything a fine exterior is what people care about. And then he began chirping his peculiar melancholy song, from which we have taken this history; and which may, very possibly, be all untrue, although it does stand here printed in black and white.