XXVIII. TADPOLE 



Material. — Tadpoles kept in a shallow pan of water with a little sand 

 and mud, and a water plant, so that they shall have a home like their 

 pool. Look for them about the first of May along the edges of shallow 

 pools and ponds. After three or four days it will be well to return them 

 to their pool of water and get new ones, for they are not likely to thrive 

 in a room. 



Observation. — How large is a tadpole ? "What is 

 its shape ? What is its color ? Is its under side 

 colored like its back ? How many eyes has it ? 

 Where are its eyes ? W^hat is the shape of its 

 mouth ? How long is its tail ? What is the shape 

 of its tail ? Has the tadpole legs ? How does it 

 travel ? Does it stav under water all the time ? 



Drawing and Composition. — Write a description of 

 a tadpole, and tell what it did for ten minutes while 

 you watched it. Illustrate your work with a picture 

 of a tadpole. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 



Eggs of Frogs and Toads. — Tadpoles hatch from egsfs that 

 are laid mostly by frogs and toads in shallow water early in 

 spring. The eggs look like drops of gelatine with a large 

 black spot inside of each. Toads usually lay their eggs in 

 strings, and frogs lay theirs in bunches that look like handfuls 

 of grayish jelly. Collect a few and watch them as they hatch. 

 You can tell young toads from young frogs only by the blacker 



color of the toads. 



U9 



