Music opens the ABC RN’s Science Show about Frogs.

Not ‘A Frog He Would A’Wooing Go’, although, if you listen to Jodi Rowley, you will hear how a male frog identifies himself to a particular mate.

Robyn Williams brings us Handel’s “The Land Brought Forth Frogs from Israel in Egypt.” Robyn understands that the narrowness of STEM – of maths without music, science without song, technology without tempo, engineering without environmental concern, must always be incomplete. He offers us STEAM.

Identify the frogs you hear with FrogID mobile app

Saturday 4 May 2019 12:07PM (view full episode)

Image: Green Tree Frog Litoria caerulea (Flickr/Troy Bell) Link to larger image.

“Australia has 240 known frog species. Most are found nowhere else. Some flourish. Many struggle. Four have become extinct since the 1980s. As human activity on the land intensifies, and as environments change, frogs are impacted. Now anyone with a smart phone can record frog sounds and submit them to scientists such as Jodi Rowley. Jodi and her team are experts at identifying frogs from their calls. They plot where frogs are found and update information about which frogs are doing well and which may be in need of help through direct conservation measures. Jodi reports that in the first year of FrogID, she has received more than 66,000 recordings and 53,000 submissions. The concerning news is that in recent years, the iconic Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea), once common in Sydney backyards has not been seen, or heard in inner city suburbs. ” Thank you Jodi and your team and all who help.

See this featured snippet from the web. “Frogs Are an Indicator Species. … In a similar way, frogs act as a natural bioindicator, which means that they measure the health of the environment. Because frogs are amphibians, they can live on both land and water. In fact, the word “amphibian” is Greek for “two lives.” Dec 13, 2018