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Perth Zoo
Frog Chorus is an interactive program that uses costumes and role-play with students to portray the life cycle of a frog. The Education Officer acts as both a storyteller and a director, organising students in their various parts and linking the life cycle story together. Frog Chorus develops outcomes under the Life and Living strand of Science under Growth, Reproduction and Change.
Using frogs from our Education Collection, students have an up-close encounter to facilitate a discussion of frog features and habitats. Students are then invited to join in a story about where frogs come from.
Students form a circle that creates a pond, and two rocks (made of material) are placed in the pond for the frogs to rest on out of the water.
Two students are chosen to act as a male and female frog. Each wearing a costume, they enter the pond and find a separate space (rocks). Students are introduced to the concept that to mate the male and female frog must locate one another. Using their voices, students make the calls of local frogs and discuss how the female follows the call of the male to discover his location. The two students in the pond move closer to each other.
Miraculously the female develops eggs and begins to deposit these throughout the pond. Selected students in the circle are given gloves to wear with ping-pong balls sewn on to them that represent eggs. Students discuss the different kinds of eggs that frogs lay. Adult frogs return to their place on the outside of the circle.
Either an Education Officer (or a student) is then transformed into an Ibis through an Ibis hat. The Ibis flies into the pond in search of food and discovers some delicious frog eggs. A number of students have their eggs eaten but a few remain. Students are introduced to the concept that frogs must lay many eggs rather than just one due loss of eggs through predation.
The remaining eggs survive and finally hatch out into tadpoles. More students are selected to swim into the pond wearing tadpole costumes. Students discuss the features of tadpoles (what they eat, how they breathe etc). Suddenly into the pond enters another predator, this time a turtle. A student in a turtle costume swims into the pond and takes a couple of tadpoles to eat (tadpoles and turtle return to their place on the outside of the circle).
The few remaining tadpoles begin to change. New students are introduced into the pond wearing the costume of a froglet (tail present and back legs only). Students compare the froglets appearance to that of the tadpole. They are asked the question, ‘what changes must take place to the froglet for it to finally become a frog?’ Students discuss their ideas (froglets return to their place on the outside of the circle).
A final group of students are selected to wear the costume of the adult frog. One costume still has a tail attached by velcro to the frog suit although it has front and back legs. The Education Officer describes how the tail is actually absorbed into the frog’s body – however for our purposes the tail is removed.
Our new frogs have the opportunity to leap around the pond and we discuss how the frogs find food and what they eat. A model frog is used to simulate the tongue action used to catch insects. Students can mimic this action. Students are then asked what would happen next if the cycle was to begin once again – revisit first stage of males calling out to females.
Once the students are all seated, each stage of the life cycle is discussed briefly once more (supported by a student wearing the relevant costume). This program concludes with some frog conservation facts, for example why frogs are so important and what the students can do to help protect them.
Students in Pre-Primary – Year two.
45 minutes - Available throughout the school year.
AU$8.00 per student (includes Zoo admission).
Set-up costs incurred in creating this program included the design and creation of the costumes, approximately AU$200. It is important that there are enough costumes made to enable each student in the class to have a costume and role in the life cycle.
Frog Chorus is featured in the Perth Zoo website: www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au. It is also featured in the Science Learning Area Overview brochure that is sent to all schools. The experience has also been advertised in "School Matters", a government newspaper for all school teachers. Word of mouth has also been a very effective means of marketing this product.
One Education Officer.
This program was developed to celebrate ‘Frog Awareness Week’.
Various education material is available to teachers participating in this program including a brochure ‘Frog Ponds Made Easy’ and the ASX Frog Focus CD-ROM.
Costumes
- adult frog costumes
- froglet costumes
- tadpole costumes
- turtle costume
- ibis hat
- gloves with ping pong balls sewn on to them
- cushions to represent stones
- toy frog with tongue action.
Participants in this program receive the standard Living Links Evaluation that is used for all Perth Zoo educational experiences.
Perth Zoo Education Ph: +61 8 9474 0365.
 Online Education Experiences
Onsite Education Experiences
Offsite Education Experiences
ARAZPA Education Policy
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