FrogID: Touring exhibition unit

An Acknowledgement of Country is a statement that pays respect to the Traditional Custodians of the Country that you are learning or meeting on and recognises their ongoing relationship with Country. The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people as the Custodians of the land on which the Museum stands.

Which First Nations Country or Nation was your school built upon? If you are unsure contact a local First Nations organisation to find out. You might like to start with the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group.

Ask your students to write an Acknowledgement of Country for your school. To get them started, read more about why an Acknowledgement of Country is important and how to write one in this ABC article.

To get students thinking about how features help us classify frogs and other animals, ask some of the following questions:

• What is a 'vertebrate'? What do you think the difference between a 'vertebrate' and an 'invertebrate' is?
• Are frogs vertebrates or invertebrates?
• Can you name any other vertebrate groups?
• What other features do frogs have?

If you get stuck, use the following webpages for ideas and introduce some '-ologies' to your class!

Once you have discussed these questions, ask students to come up with their own classification system and create a drawing of it in their workbooks. They can use some of the features you have already talked about, or use completely different features to help categorise animals!

Watch the following video from the FrogID team.

Did the sounds of frog calls in the video surprise you?

Australian frogs can make lots of different calls, and not all of them sound like frogs, or even an animal!

Play the following sounds to your class, and ask them to guess which one is not a frog call.

Sound 1

It's a frog! This is a Red-eyed Tree Frog.

Sound 2

Not a frog! This is an Australian Magpie.

Sound 3

It's a frog! This is a Peron's Tree Frog.

Sound 4

It's a frog! This is a Common Eastern Froglet.

Sound 5

It's a frog! This is a Banjo Frog.

Download the FrogID app, iOS app or Android app, and create an account. Become familiar with the different features of the app, such as how to make a recording, take a photo and add notes about the habitat you heard the frog, and how to submit your call to the Australian Museum.

In small groups, pick one frog from the species below. Listen to its call on the FrogID app. See whether it can be found around your home or school and discover its threat status.

Get creative!

In your workbooks, illustrate and colour-in a picture of your frog. Create a profile using the FrogID information, including your frog's calling period, distribution, scientific name and conservation status.

Leave some space in the profile for you to add the threats that you species face. You will find out more about these at the exhibition.

You are now a FrogID expert! It’s time to visit a Stockland retail centre near you and learn about frogs and their habitats.

The FrogID Touring exhibition will be visiting Stockland retail centres from 7 April to 27 July 2025.

• Stockland Shellharbour (NSW): 7 April – 4 May 2025
• Stockland Green Hills (NSW): 6 May – 1 June 2025
• Stockland Wetherill Park (NSW): 3 – 29 June 2025
• Stockland Rockhampton (QLD): 2 – 27 July 2025

While the exhibition is touring, there will be a series of talks by the Australian Museum FrogID team at the above Stockland retail centres. To find out more about talks and timings, call the numbers below:

• Shellharbour - (02) 4296 8266
• Green Hills - (02) 4931 0400
• Wetherill Park - (02) 9609 7766
• Rockhampton - (07) 4928 9166

There are 16 frogs on display in the dioramas – can you find them all? There is also one pest species hiding in one of the environments... But who is it and where are they hiding?

Find the frog species that your group created a profile about – is it found in the natural or urban environment? Read about the threats present in this environment.

Write some notes about the threats that your species faces in this environment, so that you can finish the frog profile in your workbook when you are back in class.

Now that you have visited the exhibition and know about the FrogID project, it is time to record some calls! You can do this as a class, or set it for homework. If you can't go far, even a local park that has a water source is a good place to start.

Before you head out, make sure everyone has set up a FrogID account and installed the app on their own device or a class device. If you are going as a class, we recommend that students work in small groups. However, how you implement and manage the activities is up to you.

Record the frog calls you hear in the field with the FrogID app, and submit them to Australia's first national frog count. Our experts will validate the frog calls ASAP.

Mapping task

As an extension, create a class map of the places that students visited and plot the locations where students heard frog calls. When students hear back from the FrogID validators, you can create your own species distribution map!

Get students into groups of 3-5. Using their own or a class device, set them the task of creating a 2-minute video where they will speak to camera and explain something they learnt at the exhibition.

Some suggested topics are:

• Frogs are indicators of environmental change
• Frogs in peril
• How frogs respond to urbanisation
• Frogs and climate change

Students will need to do research on their chosen topic, write a short script, present and film, and then do some post-production. Once all groups are finished, have a viewing party to watch the final products!

About Sleek Geeks

The Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize encourages students to communicate a scientific concept in a way that is accessible and entertaining to the public while painlessly increasing their science knowledge or, as prize patrons Dr Karl and Adam Spencer like to say, "Learn something without even noticing". It is intended to support budding young scientists across the nation, who will be our future leaders in research, discovery and communication.

Find out more about the competition or watch some previous winners!

This one is a big project for the whole class, or maybe even the whole school!

Download the worksheet and follow the steps to create a frog habitat at your school or in your backyard.

Once you have set it up, use the FrogID app to record any calls you hear from your new tenants.

Create a Climate Action Plan

In your school hasn't got one, consider starting a Climate Action Plan.

A Climate Action Plan is a plan and guidebook for reducing your school's carbon footprint, becoming more sustainable and encouraging a healthy ecosystem. It outlines the tasks required for your school to get from where it is now, to where you want to be!

What kinds of things could a Climate Action Plan include?

• Encourage biodiversity: With projects like a frog habitat, your school can encourage native plants and animals back into the playground.
• Reducing emissions: These are some steps to reducing your schools carbon emissions. They can include small things like turning off all lights when not in use, or bigger projects like installing solar panels at your school.
• Climate consciousness: Does your school have a climate committee? Start a group of eco-conscious students who meet once or twice a term to make sure you stay on track.
• Invite some environment experts in: Bring some climate change, biodiversity researchers or scientists into your school to talk to students at an assembly!