Survival of the Mutant Toad

NAME: Machel Weinacker

Grade Level: 6

Subject(s):

• Science/Animals
• Art

Duration: Two 45-minute sessions

Description: The purpose of this lesson is to learn about camouflage and how it is
essential for certain animals' survival. The lesson involves using white and brown beans.
The white beans represent albino toads, and the brown beans represent pigmented toads.
The beans are distributed outside in an "earthy" environment. Students have one minute
to search for the beans. Students count the beans that are recovered and share their
results. The importance of pigmentation and camouflage is discussed. Students will
incorporate some form of art whether it be hand-drawn and scanned into the computer or
computer generated originally. Students will have their own representation of what they
have learned throughout this assignment about toads in their natural habitats.

Goals: There are two primary goals: (1) help students learn about the importance of
camouflage, and (2) increase students' knowledge about toads, habitats, predators, and
prey.

National/State Standards:

• Students sing accurately and with good breath control throughout their singing ranges, alone
and in small and large ensembles
• Students sing with expression and technical accuracy a repertoire of vocal literature with a
level of difficulty of 2, on a scale of 1 to 6, including some songs performed from memory
• Students sing music representing diverse genres and cultures, with expression appropriate for
the work being performed
• Students sing music written in two and three parts

• Students who participate in a choral ensemble sing with expression and technical accuracy a
varied repertoire of vocal literature with a level of difficulty of 3, on a scale of 1 to 6, including
some songs performed from memory

"The framework of the standards consists of ten themes incorporating fields of study that roughly
correspond with one or more relevant disciplines. The first theme, "Culture," for instance, includes
elements of anthropology, geography, history, and sociology. These ten themes span the
educational levels from early to middle grades to high school. The standards are expressed in
statements that begin "Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of" - for instance, Culture. Student performance expectations within that theme are then
specified, and examples of classroom activities are provided as illustrations of how to design
learning experiences to help students meet the performance expectations.

Teachers and curriculum designers are encouraged first to establish their program frameworks
using the social studies standards as a guide, and then to use the standards from history,
geography, civics, economics, and others to guide the development of grade level strands and
courses. Using all of these standards in concert with one another allows educators to give
adequate attention to both integrated and single discipline configurations. " -- NCSS

NETS –S Standards:

The following experiences with technology and digital resources are examples of
learning activities in which students might engage during Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14):

1. Describe and illustrate a content-related concept or process using a model, simulation,

or concept-mapping software. (1,2) 2.

Create original animations or videos documenting school, community, or local events.

(1,2,6)

3. Gather data, examine patterns, and apply information for decision making using digital
tools and resources. (1,4) 4. Participate in a cooperative learning project in an online
learning community. (2) 5. Evaluate digital resources to determine the credibility of the
author and publisher and the timeliness and accuracy of the content. (3) 6. Employ data-
collection technology such as probes, handheld devices, and geographic mapping systems
to gather, view, analyze, and report results for content-related problems. (3,4,6) 7. Select
and use the appropriate tools and digital resources to accomplish a variety of tasks and to
solve problems. (3,4,6) 8. Use collaborative electronic authoring tools to explore
common curriculum content from multicultural perspectives with other learners. (2,3,4,5)
9. Integrate a variety of file types to create and illustrate a document or presentation. (1,6)
10.

Independently develop and apply strategies for identifying and solving routine hardware
and software problems. (4,6)

Objectives:

By the end of the lesson, students will have:

1. defined the importance of camouflage for toad survival.

 2. developed an appreciation for toads and their importance in an ecosystem.
3. collected beans (toads) from an outside area and graphed the results.
4. a PowerPoint presentation about toads and an Inspiration8 file on the same
information

Materials:

• 100 white beans (navy beans)

• 100 brown beans (pinto beans)
• containers to hold the beans
• terrarium containing toads (optional)
• state map
• graphing paper
• pencils
• computer
• paper, printer, markers or colored pencils (only for students who wish to hand-
draw pictures)

Vocabulary:

1. camouflage - the coloration and/or shape of an organism which allows that

organism to blend in with its surroundings (also known as cryptic coloration)
2. albino - an organism lacking pigmentation
3. amphibian - cold-blooded vertebrates belonging to the Class Amphibia.
(Amphibians spend part of their life on land and part of their life in water.)
4. vertebrates - an animal that has a vertebral column
5. pigmentation - having pigments, or color
6. predator - an organism that kills and eats other organisms
7. prey - organisms that are killed and eaten by other organisms

Procedure:

Activity One (notice that the first part include the Teacher’s procedures/actions and the
second part consists of Students’ procedures/tasks to complete the activity)

If possible, set up a classroom terrarium containing a non mutant toad and a mutant toad.
If a mutant toad lacking pigmentation cannot be located, substitute a white object similar
in size to the non mutant toad and include this object in the terrarium. Provide
background information about toads. Explain that most toads have color in their skin
(pigmentation) and are camouflaged. Inform students that occasionally toads lack color in
their skin and are known as albino toads. Define the terms "predator" and "prey." Share
information with the students about which organisms eat toads and what toads eat.
Discuss how coloration allows toads to blend in very well with their environment, with
camouflage being important for survival. Using a state map, identify the geographic
distribution of toads. Allow students to observe and hold the toads. [Students are to wash
their hands after handling the toads and upon completion of the bean activity.]
Prior to class, disperse 100 white beans and 100 brown beans in a mulched or dirt-
covered area near the school. The area should be large enough so that the students have
enough space to safely collect the beans (toads). Inform students that they are going to go
outside and pretend to be toad predators.

The students have one minute to collect beans (toads). After each successful capture, the
student is to stand upright and place the bean (toad) in a container. The student may then
capture another bean (toad). After collecting "toads" for one minute, ask the students to
bring their "toads" into the classroom. Students will count the toads of each color.
Display the totals on the board, and graph the results. Questions teacher might ask
include: "Were there more white or brown beans recovered? How does this activity
demonstrate the importance of camouflage?"

Students can develop an amphibian portfolio. In their portfolio, students can include
answers to the following questions:

1. Why is camouflage important for a toad's survival?

2. What function do toads serve in the ecosystem?
3. What did you like best about the brown bean/white bean activity?
4. Describe how the toad's skin felt when you held the live toad.
5. Why do most animals avoid eating toads?
6. Why was it important that you washed your hands after handling the live toad?

To expand this portfolio, additional amphibians such as frogs and salamanders may be
observed. Similar questions about these animals can be included in the portfolio. In
addition, students can research why frogs, toads, and salamanders are called amphibians.
Students can compare and contrast amphibians to other animal classes.

Activity Two

• They will obtain pictures from the Internet or images scanned into the computer
as well as facts pertaining to the habitat and environment of toads.
• Students will create a PowerPoint of pictures of toads and their habitats. 5 facts on
the habitat that the animals live and five facts on the eating habits of the animals.
• Each fact will be on a separate page in the PowerPoint presentation.
• After creating the PowerPoint, students will take the same information and
pictures and create one diagram/outline in Inspiration8.
• Each student will only be allowed one diagram, so as not to overwhelm any one
person.
• The teacher will oversee the students progress and offer assistance as well as
explaining before the process begins, explaining how to efficiently use the
technology.

Assessment:
Activity One

1. Students are assessed on their comprehension of the vocabulary words in this

lesson by matching the terms with their definitions on paper (5 points per
question=35 total point value).
2. Students are asked to write a reflection in their journal concerning why they think
that camouflage is important for a toad's survival (distribute points based upon the
total Journal grade).
3. Students are also required to draw pictures of toads in their habitats (graded as
pass or fail).
4. Optional: If students are encouraged to observe toads living in a classroom
terrarium and asked to draw and color the toads, observation skills as well as fine
motor skills may be developed. From this activity, students may ask questions
about the toads which could lead to additional research.

Activity Two

1. Students will log-on to computer and pull up Microsoft PowerPoint.

2. Students will be assessed on the completion of both the PowerPoint and
Inspiration8 assignments (PowerPoint is 50 points and Inspiration8 is 50 points
for a total of 100 points).
3. Each fact (one per presentation page) will be worth 5 point in the PowerPoint
assignment.
4. Students will be asked to complete a total of ten slides in PowerPoint with the
fact, pictures, sounds, information, and special effects on each page.
5. Students will be asked to make a diagram/outline of the fact, information,
pictures, and special effects shown in their PowerPoint presentation.
6. Each fact with information, pictures, and special effect attached to that fact will
be worth five points. (In total, 10 facts each worth 5 total points, for a grand total
of 50 points.)
7. Optional: If students have drawn pictures, encourage them to bring it in for a class
critique on the likeness of their picture to an actual toad.

Special Comments:

Ideas for lesson extensions: guest speaker to speak about toads, field trip to a zoo, field
trip to a conservation area, amphibian video presentation, or an amphibian learning center
in the classroom. Students could also research problems amphibians are facing today,
such as extinction, extra limbs, and other malformations.