My New Pets

"Swimmy" the  Green Frog (Rana clamitans)

  "Jumpy" the Fowler's Toad (Bufo fowleri)

When I was at my friend's house for a sleepover, he has a pool that is big enough for a diving board.  It is barely filled up and he has frogs in there.  He has a turtle.  We were outside playing and we saw the frogs in the pool and we caught some.  When Mama came to pick me up, I showed her a couple frogs.  Then we went home and made them a home.  Their home is big and it has a log, dirt, rocks, water, a fake plant, and a branch.  They eat crickets.  They sleep with their eyes open.  They are jumpy sometimes.  Swimmy likes to stay in the water.  On land, Swimmy is a grayish greenish color but in the water he is green.  Jumpy mostly sits in one place all day.  ~Will

Frogs and Toads

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One of the most common questions is, "What is the difference between Frogs and Toads?"
Most are surprised to hear that all Toads actually are Frogs!

Frogs Generally speaking, though, when we think of frogs, we generally picture what are called "True Frogs".... members of the family Ranidae, containing more than 400 species. These frogs have the characteristics of: two bulging eyes strong, long, webbed hind feet that are adapted for leaping and swimming smooth or slimy skin (generally, frogs tend to like moister environments) Frogs tend to lay eggs in clusters. Frogs from this family can be found on every continent except Antarctica. They are referred to as the "true frogs" because of their generalized body form and life history: the so-called generic frog. Members of this family include the bullfrog, common frog, green frog, leopard frog, marsh frog, pickerel frog, and wood frog.

Toads The term toads tends to refer to "True Toads".... members of the family Bufonidae, containing more than 300 species. These types of frogs have are characterized by: stubby bodies with short hind legs (for walking instead of hopping) warty and dry skin (usually preferring dryer climates) paratoid (or poison) glands behind the eyes The chest cartilage of toads is different also. Toads tend to lay eggs in long chains. (There are some toads (genera Nectophrynoides), however, that are the only types of anurans to bear live young!) True Toads can be found worldwide except in Australasia, polar regions, Madagascar, and Polynesia, though Bufo marinus has been artificially introduced into Australia and some South Pacific islands. Besides Bufo, the family includes 25 genera, all of which, like the frogs, are anura!

Frog Facts

• One way to tell a male frog from a female frog is by looking at its ears. The ears can be found right behind the frog’s eyes. If the ears are as big as the eyes, then the frog is a boy. If the ears are smaller than the frog’s eyes, then the frog is a girl.
• The male frog is the only one who can croak, and every frog species makes its own unique sound and some are not even croaks. Some frogs whistle and some chirp like a bird.
• Frogs are amphibians because they start their frog life cycle as eggs in the water and then turn into tadpoles, which have gills and also live in the water. It isn’t until a tadpole turns into a frog that it can live outside of the water, but it will still need to get in the water to drink and to cool off.
• Frogs don’t actually drink water with their mouths; they drink it through their skin. A frog’s skin absorbs water when it is in the water so its body gets all of the hydration that it needs that way and the frog doesn’t need to drink with its mouth.
• Frogs are cold blooded. That means that the body temperature of a frog is the same on the inside as it is on the outside. That is why frogs need to be near water so that they can jump in and cool off on hot days.
• Frogs hibernate in the wintertime.

Emerald Tumbling Days 1-4

The emeralds were all rough and pointy at day one but I was very surprised at day four. The next stage is going to take longer than this one. By stage four they will be all shiny and the black one will be the color of a emerald. Big chunks of emerald are very dense but Brazilian emeralds are not very dense.   ~James

June 15, 2011-Bubble Magic at the Library

Lauren's Favorite Bubble
"I love it so much cause it's so cool.  I clapped for it.."  ~Lauren
"It looks like a star inside a bubble in space...for some odd reason."~James
"It looks like James's head!"~Will

"I love this bubble cause it looks like a candy cane."  ~Lauren
"This is made of a million little bubbles that creates a bubble snake."~James
"It reminds me of a worm."~Will

"It looks like ice cream."  ~Lauren
"It looks like an upside down snowman."~James
"It reminds me of a hot air balloon."~Will

"It looks like a human."~Lauren 
"It looks like a black hole."~James
"It reminds me of a head with two warts on the side."~Will

"It's so big, it looks  like a caterpillar."~Lauren
"It looks like a big ole fish."~James
"It reminds me of the Grimhold in The Sorcerer's Apprentice."~Will

It looks like the Earth and Moon in a bubble."~James
"It reminds me of a cyclops with a nose  and a wart."~Will

"It looks like a star rolling down a slide."~James
"It reminds me of a ball rolling down a string."~Will

June 14, 2011



At Twisters, the BubbleGum and Cotton Candy ice cream is AWESOME, but I hate cones!  ~James

The ice cream was good and I loved it and it was cool.  And if I go there again, I will love it.    ~Lauren

I love chocolate and vanilla swirl...ice cream is awesome!  ~Will

When I went into the store, we got a nice warm welcome and it was a gem bonanza!  The lady works there was from Brazil and has a lot of gems from Brazil.  I got two emeralds for $8.  I plan to put them emeralds through my new rock tumbler that I got for my birthday so they will get all shiny.  ~James

We went to a gem store where we got rocks and quartz crystal.  We saw amyethest and sapphire.  When I walked in there and saw all of the crystals I was so estatic.  The lady that works there was nice.  ~Will

We touched some rocks and put them back.  I loved it so much.  I got a blue heart rock.  ~Lauren

I am holding a crystal that my brother found in the dirt.  The crystal looks a lot like a topaz, but also looks like a quartz crystal.  We were convinced that we could find more of it, but so far, we haven't had any luck.  ~James

I was finding rocks at our house.  We were searching for rocks.  And I loved it.  ~Lauren     

                

We went rock hunting in our backyard.  We found yellow quartz.  ~Will

Summer Fun

It's finally summer and its awesome. We just got our pool running and we probably are swimming every day. A problem is that my sister has a broken hand so we can't splash too much. My brother is always getting on my nerves so I get to tackle him in the pool sometimes.

~James

My hand is better.  The red is gone.  The black is small.  I like swimming in the pool.

~Lauren

The summer is finally here and the pool is running.  We are having so much fun, but I wish  I  was still in school.  Sometimes in the pool I splash my brother. The pool is so much fun. 

~WILLIAM