Save The Frogs Day - April 30th, 2010
Teachers | Students
| Scientists | Musicians
Events | Register Your Event | Save The Frogs Day Posters |
Spread The Word | Save The Frogs Day Official Declaration
Sponsors |
Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction
In an effort to raise awareness of the plight of amphibians, the scientific community has declared Friday April 30th, 2010 the 2nd 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! Only a small proportion of our public is aware that frogs are disappearing, and amphibian conservation efforts will not be successful with an uninformed public. Our goal is to make the amphibian extinction crisis common knowledge by Save The Frogs Day: help make it happen!
Save The Frogs Day is a perfect time for teachers and students to learn about amphibian extinctions and discuss ways that we can all contribute to amphibian conservation efforts.
Keep informed!
Please join the SAVE THE FROGS! mailing list so that we can keep you informed of important Save The Frogs Day news and events.
Teachers
If you are a teacher, please get your students involved in Save The Frogs Day activities. Inform your fellow teachers of the day and be sure to contact us to tell us you will be participating. Our Spread The Word page has informational flyers you can distribute.
Let us know if your students would like to help raise money for SAVE THE FROGS! amphibian conservation efforts.
General Lesson Plan
The key points that all teachers should mention in their classes this Save The Frogs Day are:
(1) Frogs are the most threatened group of animals on the planet, and are rapidly going extinct. Nearly one-third of the world's 6,450 amphibian species are in danger of extinction and up to 200 species have completely disappeared in the last 30 years.
(2) Frogs are important to the ecosystem and to humans. See our Why Frogs page for more information.
(3) The primary threats to frogs are habitat destruction; pollution and pesticides; climate change; infectious diseases spread by human activity; over-harvesting for the pet and food trades; and invasive species such as introduced trout, crayfish and non-native amphibians.
(4) Students can help save frogs. Please visit our How to Help page for more information.
(5) All participating classes should make a Save The Frogs Day banner, and then email us a picture of all the students holding up the banner. We will be making a collection of all these photographs from around the world. Then you can hang the banner in your school as a permanent reminder of Save The Frogs Day and as a call to action for all of the school's students.
(6) All participating classes should have students write, sign and address a letter to their Governor or one of their Congressmen, stating that:
(A) Frogs are rapidly disappearing worldwide;
(B) They took part in Save The Frogs Day activities;
(C) At least one reason frogs are important; and
(D) At least one step the politician should take to help frog populations.
Don't worry, we'll be adding a form letter to this page that will make the letter-writing easy! You just have to provide your students with the names and addresses of the relevant politician(s), and then collect and mail the letters. Finally, be sure to report back to us and let us know how many letters you sent!
Let us know if you have any interesting lesson plans we should add to the Teachers for Frogs page, and please add your thoughts to the Teachers section of the FrogForum. Be creative!
Art Teachers
Get your class involved in the 2nd Annual Frog Art Contest. There are cash prizes and students really enjoy this!
English & Writing Teachers
Get your class involved in the 2nd Annual Frog Poetry Contest and/or the 1st Annual SAVE THE FROGS! Essay Contest.
Biology Teachers
Discuss frog biology, natural history, reasons for the current mass extinction crisis and what can be done about it. Take a field trip to search for tadpoles. If you have permits/permission, you may want to collect some NATIVE tadpoles and begin raising them with your class on Save The Frogs Day, to be released at the pond from which they were collected at a later date (be sure someone can care for them until that point!).
Film Teachers
Have your students film any of the other Save The Frogs Day events happening at your school. Then have them upload their Save The Frogs Day videos to YouTube, to get the word out about amphibian extinctions and SAVE THE FROGS!. And please send us your school's best video!
Philosophy and Ethics Teachers
Have your classes discuss the ethical implications of amphibian extinctions.
History Teachers
Discuss the history of the environmental movement.
Math Teachers
Use frogs in all your example problems (i.e. if you start with 6,468 frog species and 30 species disappear each year for 100 years...).
Music Teachers
Set up a Battle of the Bands benefit concert at your school that day. Have the winning band take half the earnings, and donate the other half to SAVE THE FROGS!.
Build a frog pond behind your school
What better way to get kids interested in frogs than to have them build a frog pond behind their school on Save The Frogs Day? Their efforts will be rewarded when they see the first clutch of eggs in the pond, and when the first tadpoles metamorphose and crawl out of the pond! The Sage website has some great pond building tips, and so does TreeWalker's Operation Frog Pond page.
Students
Please tell your teachers about Save The Frogs Day and refer them to this page. Print this flyer and deliver it to your teachers. Get your classes involved in the 1st Annual Frog Art Contest and 1st Annual Frog Poetry Contest.
Ask your teachers for permission to set up a SAVE THE FROGS! informational table in the school hallway this April 30th. We can provide you with informational flyers to hand out, and you can help raise money for SAVE THE FROGS!. Be sure to contact us if you are able to set up a table.
Have a school newspaper? If so, you can write a short article for the paper announcing Save The Frogs Day. Give a 5-minute talk on frog extinctions to your class (ask your teacher permission well in advance and they will likely grant you permission). If you are a university student, see if you can give a frog presentation to K-12 students at a local school. Have a look at our Spread The Word page, our Students for Frogs page, and add your thoughts to the Students section of the FrogForum. Whatever you decide to do, please be sure to Register Your Event. And have fun!
Scientists
It is our duty as scientists to protect amphibian populations, and this will not be possible unless we rapidly and successfully educate the public about the amphibian extinction crisis. An incredibly small proportion of the public is aware that amphibians are in trouble, and we all have a vested interest in changing this unfortunate situation:
(1) An environmentally conscious society attempts to care for versus destroy the environment, and thus by educating the public regarding environmental issues we will help to ensure that our current hard work will not be laid to waste by the environmentally-destructive actions of future generations;
(2) Increasing students’ interest in herpetology will mean a larger pool of potential graduate students for you to choose from, and thus higher quality researchers working in your lab; and
(3) Issues that are engrained in the public’s consciousness receive more monetary funding from governments, private foundations, and average citizens, and we all depend on this money.
Can you devote half of a day on April 30th towards educating the public about the amphibian extinction crisis? Please help us make Save The Frogs Day successful by giving a free public lecture on amphibian extinctions (or your area of expertise) at a local school or environmental group on April 30th, 2010. It's great publicity and a great way to spread the word about amphibian declines and get students interested in herpetology and environmental conservation.
Please contact us if you are able to give a free lecture so that we can list the event on this page, help you develop the lecture, find local journalists who can attend the event, and provide you with informational flyers to distribute. If you can help us develop lesson plans for teachers, please also let us know.
If you are affiliated with a herpetological society, please have your group send a Save The Frogs Day announcement to all of its members. Add the Save The Frogs Day icon at the top of this page to your personal or professional website and that of your society. Post the Save The Frogs Day flyer up at your place of work. Have your motivated students contact us about volunteer opportunities.
Events
Benefit Concerts
We plan to have at least one large benefit concert taking place on Save The Frogs Day, and many smaller events around the world. 
If you are a concert promoter, band manager, or if you are a musician, you are in a perfect position to help SAVE THE FROGS!. Benefit concerts are one of the best ways to raise money for frog conservation and promote awareness of frog extinctions (not to mention have a good time!). Plus the concert will provide your band with excellent positive publicity!
If you set up a Save The Frogs Day Benefit Concert, we'll list it in the Events section of this page. We can provide educational materials for you to distribute, or we may be able to host a SAVE THE FROGS! informational table at the venue. If you are already booked to play somewhere on April 30th, 2010, great! Make it a benefit concert, and rock out for the frogs. Please see our Musicians for Frogs page and contact us for more information.
Live Lectures
Herpetologists worldwide will be giving live presentations on frogs and frog extinctions at local schools, museums, zoos and community groups. Talks on the 1st Annual Save The Frogs Day took place in the USA, Canada, Italy, China, India, Croatia, Australia, Colombia, South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Nepal, Portugal, Switzerland, Madagascar...and this year will be more extensive.
SAVE THE FROGS! 2nd Annual Frog Art Contest
We encourage all art teachers to get their classes involved in the 2nd Annual Frog Art Contest this Save The Frogs Day.
SAVE THE FROGS! 2nd Annual Frog Poetry Contest
Looking for a great way to get your English or Writing class involved in Save The Frogs Day activities? Please have them take part in the 2nd Annual Frog Poetry Contest. There are cash prizes!
Save The Frogs Day Poster
In commemoration of the 1st Annual Save The Frogs Day, we present this limited edition 18x24" print featuring artwork by SAVE THE FROGS! Art Director Ms. Leah Klehn (the 1st Lady of Frog Art).
Can you help us make Save The Frogs Day wildly successful by donating $15? We'll send you this fantastic poster plus a free savethefrogs.com bumper sticker if you do!
Here's what your donation will go towards:
(1) Providing free educational materials to schools, and helping offset travel costs of herpetologists giving free public lectures that day.
(2) Providing our volunteers with SAVE THE FROGS! pins, stickers, wristbands, shirts etc that they can use at their Save The Frogs Day informational tables to raise money for SAVE THE FROGS!.
(3) Ensuring that we can employ a full-time staff member to supervise, coordinate, promote and develop all the Save The Frogs Day activities.
Thanks for your support! Together we can SAVE THE FROGS!
Spread The Word
We need Save The Frogs Day to be more popular than Thanksgiving!!! Please do your part:
(1) Email your friends and tell them that Save The Frogs Day is April 30th, 2009: http://savethefrogs.com/day
(2) Put a note up on your website and add a link to this page. Use the Save The Frogs Day icon at the top of this page, or the one right here-->
(3) If you use Facebook, Myspace or Twitter, make the icon to your right your profile picture. Just right click and choose "Save Picture As".
(4) Please see our Spread The Word page and be creative!
(5) You probably email 100+ people per week. Please make an automated signature for your email. Just go to your mail options or settings and there should be a place to set up the automated signature. Have it say this:
Save The Frogs Day - April 30th, 2010
www.savethefrogs.com/day
(6) Put this flyer up at your school, workplace, or anywhere else. Just left-click on the flyer and a PDF will open in a separate window. Try to print them in color if possible!
Official Declaration of Save The Frogs Day
We would like to thank Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia for officially recognizing Save The Frogs Day. To the best of our knowledge, Governor Kaine is the world's highest ranking politician to officially acknowledge the amphibian extinction crisis. We also thank Mayor Gregor Robertson of Vancouver, British Columbia who has declared April 28th, 2009 Save The Frogs Day in Vancouver; and Chairman Corey Stewart who declared April 28th, 2009 as Save The Frogs Day in Prince William County, VA; and Mayor Harry Parrish who declared April 28th, 2009 as Save The Frogs Day in Manassas, VA.
By virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution in the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, there is hereby officially recognized:
SAVE THE FROGS DAY
WHEREAS, amphibians are in considerable peril here in Virginia, and nearly one-third of the world’s 6,468 amphibian species are threatened with extinction and at least 150 species have completely disappeared since 1979, and thus amphibians are the most threatened group of animals on Earth; and
WHEREAS, amphibians are critical components to our ecosystems, especially the Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea) in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and because amphibians provide ecosystem services to nature and to humans including (1) cleaning waterways by eating algae during their tadpole stage; (2) serving as a vital source of food to dragonflies, birds, fish, and reptiles, (3) consuming large quantities of ticks, mosquitoes and other pest species that serve as disease vectors that can transmit fatal illnesses to humans; and
WHEREAS,approximately 10% of Nobel prizes in physiology and medicine have resulted from investigations that used amphibians, and because when an amphibian species disappears, so does any promise it holds for improving human medicine; and
WHEREAS, amphibians face a multitude of threats including pollution, pesticides, habitat destruction, climate change, invasive species, infectious diseases (the spread of which are facilitated by human activities), and over-harvesting for the pet, food and bait trades; and
WHEREAS, we believe in the right of children to see, hear and catch amphibians in their native habitat, and amphibian conservation efforts will not be successful without an educated and informed public;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Timothy M. Kaine do hereby recognize April 28th, 2009 as SAVE THE FROGS DAY in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.
Help get Save The Frogs Day recognized in your state
Please left-click on the picture below to get a PDF of a petition sheet you can print out and use to collect signatures, which we will send in when we ask your governor/mayor to legally recognize Save The Frogs Day. These signatures will help convey to your politicians the importance of amphibian conservation. Further, by collecting these signatures, you'll be spreading the word every time you talk to someone about Save The Frogs Day.
Sponsors
If your business or organization would like to be an Official Sponsor of Save The Frogs Day, please contact us. Your support will be invaluable to the success of Save The Frogs Day, and we will see to it that you get the positive publicity you deserve, including listing your company's name and logo right here on savethefrogs.com.
Please donate to help SAVE THE FROGS!
Your tax-deductible contribution will prevent amphibian extinctions through environmental education, scientific research, legal defense, and through the acquisition of critical amphibian habitat. Thanks for your support...Together we can SAVE THE FROGS!
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