Nature/Frogs: The Thin Green Line

I found a video on PBS that I think would be educational to use in my classroom. The site to go to is http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nat

At the University of California of Berkeley Tyrone Hayes and his students are studying how chemicals that we use in our agricultural is effecting frogs. Harsh chemicals that are used as fertilizer along with pesticides in our crops are killing frogs. These pesticides used are running off into our water system. These chemicals case stress hormones which creates immunosuppression in frogs. Genetic male frogs are not becoming female frogs and laying eggs. There is a chemical that is used on strawberries that is a nerve gas that humans are digesting into their system.

Tyrone Hayes has found large amounts of Atrazine chemical used in our crops. California is the first largest in using chemicals in agriculture than Florida is the second.


He is concerned that these chemicals being used are killing off frogs, and causing major genetic physical changes, as well as the frog becoming extinct what is it going to do to humans.


I found this video to be very interesting. I knew there was some sort of chemicals being used but I did not know it was these types that are causing genetic changes and that the frog was becoming extinct. I think that this video would be great to be used in a classroom. It was very informative and makes one open their eyes to what kind of chemicals are being used in our agricultural.