Tadpoles - a living lesson about the life cycle.

One summer day in Warsaw Basia came along an attractive pound, so she searched the water and found the tadpoles. She took some home to immerse herself in the world of frogs.

Tadpoles don't stay tadpoles forever. Watching them is a living lesson about the natural life cycle. In just a few weeks, embryos become long-tailed tadpoles and then fully formed frogs.  The child can watch them swim and develop, sprout legs and become frogs in real time. 

Rules and regulations for raising tadpoles and keeping frogs. 

1. The container should be wide and short for the best oxygen accessibility. Ideally, the water will come from nature such as from a clean pond or a clear stream. If you use water from the tap, let it stand for at least three days before you use it, or the chlorine can kill your tadpoles. Keep maximum eight tadpoles in a single gallon of water, which should remain between 59 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Change the water twice a week, making sure to maintain a consistent water temperature. Changing your tadpole's water is similar to changing a fish's water. First, scoop out your tadpoles using a soft net and place them in a container of new water. Be very careful, since tadpoles have sensitive skin. Dump out the tank and refill it with new water, then add the tadpoles back in.
3. Feed your tadpoles a combination of organic matter like sliced green grapes, zucchini, peas and broccoli. You can add algae-growing leaves from a pond or stream, or algae tablets from the pet supply store. There are no hard and fast measurements for how much food to give your tadpoles, so focus on giving them small meals throughout the day rather than one or two big portions. If they're leaving food it means that you're feeding too much.
4. Feed your tadpoles meat for proteins as they start to develop legs; this is when their tiny bodies switch from vegetarian to meat-eater. Serve small insects, bloodworms or aphids.
5. Give your tadpoles a place where they can get out of the water. Once they start sprouting legs, they start losing their gills; this is when they become more like frogs than fish and need to spend time outside the water. Solid areas made of rocks and sticks are typically best, because unlike lily pads and other floating plants, they don't prevent oxygen from getting into the water for any tadpoles that still need it.
6. Remove fully formed frogs from the tank once they're grown. The giveaway is typically the absorption of the tail. At this point, they aren't tadpoles anymore. It's time to introduce them to the wild or if not to give the frogs a new enclosure to live in.

Frog and Tadpole Books: 

Metamorphosis - Frog Life Cycle

http://oimb.uoregon.edu/Documents/GK12/GK12Lesson-MetamorphosisFrogLifeCycle.pdf

"Tale of a Tadpole" by Karen Wallace

"The Wide-mouthed Frog" by Keith Faulkner

"Growing Frogs" by Vivian French

http://www.wikihow.com/Raise-Tadpoles  

http://www.petbloglady.com/2013/06/looking-after-tadpoles.html