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Reptiles and amphibians
Frogs and salamanders have moist skin and start life in the water; snakes, lizards, turtles and crocodiles have dry, scaly skin and lay their eggs on land. Find out how the two groups differ, test how scaly skin stops drying out, watch a 'lizard' warm up in the sun and calculate with real data on species, eggs and turtle nests. Three ages, each with a text, an experiment, a game, a quiz, a printable worksheet and a teacher sheet.
Ages 6–7Scales or slime?Meet frogs and salamanders, snakes and turtles. Who has wet skin and who has scales, who starts life as a tadpole, and why does a lizard love the sun?Ages 10–11Two ways of life: amphibians and reptilesHow amphibians live a 'double life' in water and on land, how reptiles became free of the water, why both are ectotherms, and a fair test on warming up in the sun.Ages 15–16Out of the water: tetrapods, the amniotic egg and ectothermyThe move from water to land, the four membranes of the amniotic egg, the energy budget of an ectotherm, temperature-dependent sex in sea turtles and why amphibians are in trouble, with a quantitative water-loss practical.