The Fabulous Amphibians of Passaic County
 
                                               Go to map

Click here to go straight to the map!
 
Greetings, potential science investigators!  As a student in one of Mr. Ayres' 7th grade science classes, you have an opportunity to be a part of a team in the field doing real scientific research. Should you choose to join us, you will be a member of a group that is tracking the  number of amphibians in Passaic County. You will have to visit ponds, lakes, and wetlands in order to collect the data that we need for this survey.  Counting the number of amphibians in a given area is one of the tools that scientists use in order to judge the health of the environment in that  specific area, so you would be helping to "take the pulse" of Passaic County's health!  If you are curious to know more, scroll down and read more about it!
 
 
If you join us you will be trained to identify the common characteristics of amphibians, and to recognize the different stages of development  of a frog. You will also be trained to recognize the differences between a frog and a toad, and to recognize the differences between a newt and a salamander as well. As a trained observer, you must be able to make multiple  observations and collect several pieces of data.  You will need to be careful, attentive, and aware, and I know that you're up to the job!
 
 
After you have collected the data, it will need to be entered into our data base. In order to do that you will visit the map site, place a pin in the location that you visited for your data collection, and enter the data you have collected into the data base. In an attempt to make life a little easier for the dedicated data collection team, please visit the forms page and print copies of the data collection form and/or identification sheets to take with you into the field. If you think that you're ready to start, click on some of the links above to check things out!
 

Teacher's Page

Printable Pages

Works Cited

Map Site