CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — It’s springtime, which means we’ll soon see plenty of birds in the sky, but also some amphibians in the ponds.

The University of Illinois Extension hosted a FrogWatch training class today. The community science program teaches volunteers how to collect scientific data on frogs and toads. It helps scientists nationwide improve and monitor conservation practices.

Extension educator Karla Griesbaum said the class learned different frog sounds.

“A big part of this training was to practice all these calls,” Griesbaum said. “There are 12 in this area. And so we went through each call, we worked on using all of your senses in order to recognize each call and to differentiate them. And then they had to take an assessment at the end to see if they remembered them all today. But then they can also go online later after practicing and do it then as well.”

34 people showed up, with more participating online. Griesbaum said if you missed today’s class, the online option is always open. They will also host another field training on June 4th.