Students in Debora Mahler’s second-grade classroom at South Bay Elementary School will have the chance to explore science in a hands-on way this year with the help of a new class pet – a tree frog.

The frog, which the class named Spiderfrog because of its ability to stick to and climb up a wall, will be integrated into the class’s lessons about predators, prey, life cycle, camouflage and classification of animals. To date, they have learned about the frog’s diet – in particular, that it likes to eat crickets.