Mood:  sharp

March 8th is Amphibian Awareness Day- So SPING AHEAD like a frog and remember amphibians on this clock changing day. See what the Kansas City Zoo is doing to celebrate! https://www.kansascityzoo.org/Event/Event.asp?IdS=00D895-3428EE0&EntryType=Public&Id=303

March 16-20 is National Wildlife Week.

Participate in three ways:

1. Personally: Take time to appreciate the wildlife in your community. The National Wildlife Week website offers downloads of free activities and service project ideas to do with kids and teens, Wildlife Watch lists of local plants and animals, and fact sheets about the benefits of playing outside.

2. In your community: Organize a time for your friends and neighbors to participate in a wildlife habitat project or to watch for wildlife.

3. Spread the word: Forward this email to others, including educators, parents, and kids so they can get involved during National Wildlife Week.

Since 1938, National Wildlife Week has been increasing awareness about wildlife conservation and the benefits of spending time outdoors. Research shows that a daily Green Hour® (playing outside) improves one's physical, mental and emotional well-being. Be out there.

Starting March 1, visit www.nwf.org/wildlifeweek for more info!

April 28th is Save the Frogs Day!

In an effort to raise awareness of the plight of amphibians, the scientific community has declared April 28th, 2009 the 1st Annual 'Save The Frogs Day'. On this day we encourage the appreciation and celebration of amphibians by people from all walks of life.

Please get involved and help spread the word! Remember that only a small proportion of our public is aware that frogs are disappearing, and that amphibian conservation efforts will not be successful until amphibian declines are common knowledge: think of how long it has taken for any political action on global warming to occur! Politicians rarely act until the public demands action. Our goal is to make the amphibian extinction crisis common knowledge by 2013: help make it happen!

Save The Frogs Day is a perfect time for teachers and students to focus on amphibian conservation, learn about amphibian extinctions, and discuss ways that we can all contribute to amphibian conservation efforts.

Please join the SAVE THE FROGS! mailing list (in the left sidebar of this page) so that we can keep you informed of important Save The Frogs Day news and events.

If you know of other events you think should be listed on Wendells Frog Blog, please email them to wzetterberg@gmail.com

Thanks.

Posted by wendellsfrogblog at 1:41 PM EST

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Mood:  lucky

"Frog Xing is a well-paced arcade game."

It claims its a FREE Download, but I haven't tried it, so no guarantees.

Posted by wendellsfrogblog at 9:57 AM EST

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Mood:  special

I was sent a link to a new video game this morning and asked to spead the word around. It is part of a promotion for the Vancouver Aquarium's new Year of the Frog exhibit. The game is called Frogster, and is a new twist on the game Frogger. The new hazards include Chytrid Fungus, Air Pollution, Loss of Habitat, Water Pollution, Climate Change and Human Interference. My kids saw me checking it out and insisted on playing. You use the arrow keys to move and have many things to watch out for. Learning about amphibian declines and having fun at the same time, what a concept! I have used the Frogger analogy in teaching about the Green Treefrog migration north into Indiana. I explain how the frog goes to sleep in a log and gets washed into the river, then has to get to shore before it runs out of suitable habitat. This game takes it even further in a wonderful mix of fun and education. Check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.vanaqua.org/home/frogster.html

Posted by wendellsfrogblog at 10:26 PM EDT

Updated: Friday, 18 April 2008 11:48 PM EDT

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Mood:  mischievious

New reason for Amphibian Declines Discovered

A scientist, Dr. P. Charming from Far Far Away University (FFAU) has discovered a new syndrome that is causing the rapid decline of many species of frogs and toads. He calls this PSG (Prince Seeking Girl) syndrome. It seems that PSG syndrome occurs most often during periods of Purple Rain. For many years, the actual number has gone undocumented, only occasionally being referred to in fairy tales and folklore. Dr. Charming’s findings show that this happens much more often than previously believed and that even losing a small number of frogs and toads to royalty can disrupt the amphibian ecosystem. While still unknown the age a girl starts to see boys and frogs as not gross, or cootie infected, it seems to be between 13 and 21. Kissing frogs and toads has the potential of spreading salmonella, which is natural in the amphibian but can cause problems for the human. There is also the possibility of being sickened by the toxins created by toads. On the bright side however, there is no correlation to warts being transferred to either amphibian or human species. There is hope however! With new technologies such as On-line dating services and MySpace, maybe the need to go to the local pond in search of a Prince in froggy armor and kiss a poor frog and take him away from his happy home will finally come to an end. Maybe if humans tried to get along a little better with their own species, they wouldn’t decide to search for the companionship in threatened species. If you know of a case of PSG syndrome in progress, please intervene and try to prevent this tragedy from happening. If you need assistance in the intervention, please call 1-APR-ILF-OOLS!

Posted by wendellsfrogblog at 2:15 PM EDT

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Mood:  a-ok

Frogs! A Chorus of Colors

Frog calls, frog facts, dress a frog, Toadally awesome give-aways...this site has it all!

Spur Digital Launches "Frogs!" Interactive Web Site

Posted by wendellsfrogblog at 6:33 PM EST

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Mood:  a-ok

<a href="http://nwf.blogs.com/arctic_promise/2006/10/if_bears_could_.html">..<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/mommy_mia/stickers.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>
<b>VOTE for what you care about on TUESDAY NOVEMBER 7th</b>
<i>Click the sticker to download your own or watch the Voting Bear video!</i>

Newton's first law of motion is often stated as

An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

What does that have to do with voting or frogs for that matter? Well WE are the unbalanced force that can make a change in the direction of the "motion". If we do nothing, things will move along how they will, but if we intervene, things will get done in the way we think they should. Whatever your cause is, if you don't vote, change is out of your control.

Vote for What you Believe!

Posted by wendellsfrogblog at 8:29 PM EST

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Mood:  lazy

Seveal of the ideas I already do in some variation with my family. We play Sign Alphabet on long trips, or long ones to the kids, where you start at "A" and have to find all the letters in order. They always groan when we pass a Dairy Queen early in the game. We also play a variation of Slug Bug we call Doodle Bug where you call Doodlebug and the color and keep track of points rather than the kids beating the heck out of each other. We also will pick an animal and see who sees the most, like turkey vultures or red-tailed hawks along the interstate. Usually at a State Park or other nature area, we see who finds the first of each species, sometimes with a reward for the first amphibian.(usually only a dollar, but it really gets the kids interested in flipping logs) It did seem a bit odd that I found this article at the end of the summer, my kids went back to school yesterday, but its still some ideas to have some fun with.

Posted by wendellsfrogblog at 8:34 AM EDT

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Mood:  quizzical

Good Stories From China: The Well Frog And The Sea Turtle

This has the start of a great story I think, but it just quits. Does anyone know if there is more to the story, or are you supposed to draw your own conclusions to learn a lesson. It would be interesting to see what some of you readers think would happen next. Put your ending in the comment section please.

Posted by wendellsfrogblog at 9:25 AM EDT

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Mood:  surprised

Roomba Frogger

If Frogger is your game, check out this version created by kids.

Posted by wendellsfrogblog at 9:43 AM EDT

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