bog type setup

[MartinM]

Hey, just because you're in the sixth grade, doesn't mean you can't do a good science project. I think bugsike is right that you should try to identify all species that you include in the vivarium. You will probably also have to think a bit more about "...which animals make which impact on the mini-environment." What are you counting as an impact? How will you measure it?

Maybe it would be more useful to think in terms of behavior. For instance, if you have a frog, you could record where it spends its time (near water vs. far from water, high perch vs. low perch, etc.). When you're home and awake, you could record its position every hour. Does where it spends time depend on the time of day? If the frog had similar behavior out in nature (which you could check), that would affect what food it was likely to find, and what animals (like snakes) are likely to find it. (Eating food and BEING food are two important ways that animals have an impact on the environment.)

You could also look at its eating habits. How long does it take to eat a food item after you put it in the terrarium? How far will it move to catch a food item? What food item does it prefer when you give it a choice of, say, a worm vs. a cricket. Is it more eager to feed at certain times of day? Does how the food item is presented make a difference?

Use your imagination. Try to look at the world the way the animal in question does in order to survive. Think of what various behaviors mean for its survival. And have fun.

Martin

[bugsike]

If you can hear them,they're there. They're only about an inch long, and because they change color to blend with their background, they are really hard to see, but in most areas they are really common! I found mine at night with a flashlight after following the calls, but it wasn't easy. They are both males. Females do not call; I have heard you can lure them in by playing a recording of males calling. We may try that.

Another thing you might try is raising some from eggs. Peepers are the first frogs to lay eggs in spring, and they should be laying in your area right about now. Look in fish-free ponds or seasonal pools of water for eggs - research the internet for how to tell toad eggs from frog eggs. Include that in your project, then a journal of how they develop and what they eat at each stage of life and there's a good science project too.

Originally Posted by geckolord1

yes i can see them i would like to get some of those! ive only found one in all my life :/ theyre pretty rare here in my backyard i can hear em at night though

To give you an idea of how small they are, here's one of mine with some fruit flies: