Amphibians are a class of cold-blooded vertebrates made up of frogs, toads, salamanders,

newts, and caecilians (wormlike animals with poorly developed eyes). All amphibians spend
part of their lives in water and part on land, which is how they earned their name
—“amphibian” comes from a Greek word meaning “double life.” Biologists divide amphibians
into three orders: Frogs, including toads, found in Canada, Salamanders, found in Canada,
Caecilians or limbless amphibians, found only in the tropics. Amphibians are small vertebrates
that need water, or a moist environment, to survive. The species in this group include frogs,
toads, salamanders, and newts. All can breathe and absorb water through their very thin skin.
Most frogs and other amphibians hatch as fish-like larvae called tadpoles, or "pollywogs."
Tadpoles exist to eat and grow. They eventually transform from a larva with one body form to
an adult with a different body form, a process called metamorphosis. 
Characteristic features of amphibians :

 Amphibians do not have scales on their skin and their skin is often moist with mucus.
 Their eggs do not have shells and so they must be laid in water or a damp environment
to keep from drying out
 Amphibians go through a two-stage life cycle: 1) when an amphibian hatches, it is in a
gilled larval form. In frogs and toads this larva is called a tadpole. 2) After a few weeks or
months, the larvae transform into the adult form; however, the larvae may still take a
few years to become mature. During the first stages the larvae which is known as a
tadpole in frogs and toads live in water whereas the adults live on land.

 Most amphibians start their journey as water-dwelling animals. Similarly, frogs when they are
young  (tadpoles) they breathe through gills, but as they become adult they develop lungs for
breathing and become land-dwelling animals.