One of the wonders of Spring is to listen to the melodious strains of an amphibian orchestra, courtesy of your local frogs and toads. Frogs sing for the same reason birds do. The males are trying to attract and mate and they also are fighting for territory.
To appreciate this natural concert, walk to a nearby marsh, swamp or bog in early spring – just as the sun is starting to set. Remember focused hearing (cup your hands behind your ears and push forward). Listen for the high, piercing peep of a spring peeper, or maybe the trilling bursts of sound from the chorus frog. You might also hear the low garomph of the bullfrog or the throaty croak of the leopard frog. Some species call earlier during spring, some later. During the day you might even hear the bird like trill of the gray tree frog, depending where you live. To learn to identify the frog songs in your province or state, go to www.frogwatch.ca
Explain to your group that you are the conductor, and they are the various frog and toad species found in your region. Each child (or as many as you have available) can represent one species. Listen to the real sounds of frogs by going to the website mentioned above. Imitate each of the sounds as best you can. Use the table (below) as a guide:
As a conductor you need to give clear signals to your orchestra. Here they are:
● When you point to a frog species, it begins to sing.
● When you cross your hands and swipe them outwards (like a referee), they stop singing.
● When you raise both hands simultaneously upwards, the individual sound becomes louder
● When you lower your hands the sound becomes quieter.
Begin with the wood frog (or the earliest to sing in your region), and add additional frog and toads songs until all the species are singing in joyous chorus. Come to a dramatic crescendo and then fade out. You’ve just conducted a realistic rendition of a wetland symphony, courtesy of your local frogs and toads
You can learn to be a citizen scientist by counting the frog and toad species you hear. By reporting this data to either Frogwatch Canada or Frogwatch USA, scientists will have a better idea of the impacts of climate change and the general health of wetlands in your area.
