What type of salamander could this be...?

so...
I found some salamanders a little bit ago. it looks like they have gills on their sides, but I found them on land, quite a ways away from any water (about 200 feet or so away from a tiny pond that's not really a pond but still has water). ...

they're a brownish blackish color with dark yellow spots. one of 'em's about eight inches long, the other about six.
any ideas on what kind they are?
and also...
I'm planning on taking them to school for a teacher, so...
any ideas as to what type of housing I should improvise?

I'll have a look around online to see if I can find out what they exactly are... but in the meantime I have to say that I think you should return them to their natural habitat before you know anything about taking care of them. They could die of starvation or stress because of your lack of knowledge on them.

Right, they should be either Spotted Salamanders, or Tiger Salamanders, from your description. Hard to tell without photos to compare.

Here are their Wikipedia pages:
http://en.wikipedia....
http://en.wikipedia....

FunAdvice might still be buggy from constant updating recently, so if the links don't work, you can Google or Wikipedia for Spotted or Tiger salamanders for more info.

thanks! that's pretty much the two I narrowed it down to...

as for the other part, I might not know much about them, but I know the basics. and I figure they're better off now than they were when they were stuck in the bottom of our basement window well, drying out in the sun, all the while under the steady gaze of our hungry dog...
so fear not!! the lizards will live to see another day...
=D

lol good to know