Glass Frogs

Freaky Frogs

​Will see-through frogs clear the way for frog research?

​Green is out! Frogs have a new look that has some scientists jumping for joy.

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Scientists in Hiroshima, Japan, have produced see-through frogs. Japan is a country in Asia. The pale frogs are the world's first see-through animals with four legs. Frogs are often used for scientific research. Now researchers can view organs that are under the see-through frogs' skin. Organs are body parts, such as the heart and lungs.

​​Will see-through frogs clear the way for frog research?

Scientist Masayuki Sumida says the see-through animals provide new ways to study frogs. He says scientists can observe what happens to a frog's organs if it gets sick. "You can see through the skin how organs grow…," he says. "You can watch organs of the same frog over its entire life."

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Frogs are cold-blooded. That means their body temperature depends on their environment. Frogs are also amphibians, which are animals with backbones that spend part of their lives in water and part on land. "That's one of the things that makes them so interesting to study," herpetologist Joseph Collins told WR News. A herpetologist is a scientist who studies reptiles and amphibians.

Multiple Choice

Read these sentences from the text.

The pale frogs are the world's first see-through animals with four legs. Frogs are often used for scientific research. Now researchers can view organs that are under the see-through frogs' skin. Organs are body parts, such as the heart and lungs.

Scientist Masayuki Sumida says the see-through animals provide new ways to study frogs. He says scientists can observe what happens to a frog's organs if it gets sick. "You can see through the skin how organs grow...," he says. "You can watch organs of the same frog over its entire life."

Based on this evidence, what conclusion can you draw about see-through animals?

• See-through animals can survive in the wild more easily than regular animals because they are hard to see in their natural habitats.

• See-through frogs give scientists an exciting new way to study them because they can see the frogs’ organs through their skin.

• Only cold blooded frogs can be see-through because the skin of warm-blooded frogs is impacted by their veins.

• The skin of see-through frogs is only see-through when they become sick, so scientists know they are healthy if they can’t see their organs.

​Collins says students also could benefit from studying the see-through frogs. "Seeing the heart actually pumping and the lungs actually working would be really important to younger students," he says. "It will teach a lot about how the organs work."

Multiple Choice

Read these sentences from the text.

Collins says students also could benefit from studying the see-through frogs. "Seeing the heart actually pumping and the lungs actually working would be really important to younger students," he says.

As used in these sentences, what does the word "benefit" most nearly mean?

• be seen

• be careful

• be taught

• be helped

​Types of Amphibians

​Frogs are one of more than 5,000 amphibian species!

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Red-Eyed Tree Frog: These colorful frogs have red eyes and blue and yellow stripes. They live in rain forests in Central America.

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Toad: Toads have stubby bodies with warty skin, and they walk instead of hop. Toads live in most parts of the world.

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Salamander: Salamanders look like lizards. Some have lungs. They live in cool areas in Europe, North America, and Asia.

Multiple Choice

What is one difference between frogs and toads?

• Frogs are cold-blooded, and toads have stubby bodies.

• Frogs live in Japan, and toads live in most parts of the world.

• Frogs hop, and toads walk.

• Frogs are mammals, and toads are amphibians.

Multiple Choice

What is this text mostly about?

• a scientist and his work with see-through frogs

• a new kind of frog recently produced in Japan

• how studying frogs can help students learn

• how to see the heart and lungs of a frog

Multiple Choice

What can be inferred from the text?

• Scientists can observe the organs of a see-through frog grow over time.

• Watching the organs of a see-through frog grow and change is disgusting.

• Scientists may someday work to produce other kinds of see-through animals.

• See-through frogs are not very helpful to researchers.

Open Ended

What are two new things you learned from the video about glass frogs?