First Grade · Frog Life Cycle

Tadpoles

Stage 2 of 5. Read, look, and listen.

Tadpoles have a head, tail and body. They live under water and breathe through their gills. They eat algae and other tiny water plants as they swim. After about a month, a bulge appears at the base of their tail where their hind legs will grow. They also begin to grow lungs for breathing.

  • A tadpole swimming near green water plants. It has a round body and a long tail.
  • Two dark tadpoles seen from above.
  • An orange-brown tadpole swimming.
  • A tadpole resting among water plants.

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