Frogs grow in five stages. First is the egg stage. The eggs are laid in wet places in slippery masses that hopefully don’t get slurped up by other hungry animals. The eggs are called a “frog spawn.” There the single cells divide for the next 20 days. And hopefully some survive to get to the next stage. The eggs feed on the little yolk sac inside.
At 21days, the eggs become tadpoles. They break out of their jelly egg homes and live in the weeds until they can swim. They eat algae and grow until their swimmy tails grow big enough to swim around.
After about five weeks the tadpole begins to grow legs, starting with the back legs, which is the third stage. In the fourth stage bulges grow behind their head and that’s where their front legs will grow. Their tails shrink. Their lungs grow so they can live on land. It’s almost a frog now.
The tadpole grows and grows to look more like a frog, shedding its lips and skin. Eleven weeks after it was one little cell, it is fully grown. Gone are the tail and the horny jaws. It can swim and live on land. It now can eat worms and bugs. When it grows to be a big frog it will find a mate and the whole process will begin again.
