If you want a pet frog, don’t get a really bright, tropical-looking one. It might be a poisonous dart frog. They’re also called poison arrow frogs, because long-ago people smeared the frogs’ poison onto the tips of their arrows. Some scientists think dart frogs stay poisonous by eating special insects, who turn poisonous by eating special plants! One dart frog has enough poison in it to kill 10,000 mice…so if you like eating frogs’ legs, you won’t be snacking on these.
Wee ones: Dart frogs come in bright shades of red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. How many frog colors is that?
Little kids: If you get 2 frogs of each of the 5 colors, how many poisonous pets do you have? Bonus: If you buy 2 frogs, twice as many poison beetles to help them out, and 5 poison plants for the beetles, how many poisonous things do you have?
Big kids: These frogs are only about 2 1/2 inches long. If you can fit 2 of them end to end on your hand, how long is your hand? Bonus: Some frogs jump 50 times their body length! If a 2 1/2-inch dart frog could do that, how far could it jump?
Answers:
Wee ones: 5 colors.
Little kids: 10 pet frogs. Bonus: 11 poisonous things (2 frogs, 4 beetles, 5 plants).
Big kids: 5 inches long. Bonus: 125 inches (over 10 feet!).
