OK, the frogs are made of paper – origami frogs, actually, that the students will bring to the Science Education Enrichment Day (S.E.E.D.) at USC Aiken on Saturday, Oct. 12.

That event will attract more than 3,000 people from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nearly 70 exhibitors – ranging from Savannah River Site staffers, businesses and other organizations — will provide an array of interactive activities. Santos in the past has brought nine-year-olds to serve as exhibitors and is delighted to do so again.

Converting sheets of paper into hopping frogs demands some intricate folding, yet the process is even more involved. The children created large frogs and much smaller “peepers,” pressing down a flap on each frog to send it flying more or less through the air.

McKintley Morgan and the majority of her classmates thought the smaller frogs would go farther, and they were right.

“The smaller frogs are lighter, and the weight made a big difference,” McKintley said.

The kids had other assignments with the project — measuring distances to one-eighth of an inch, plotting the results and determining the mode, mean and median, getting experience with geometry and vocabulary, Santos said.

Her students will get a chance to see all the other exhibits. In two-hour shifts, they also will show other kids how to create an origami frog and test how far it can leap. In addition, they will introduce leaf-rubbing and demonstrate how pantometers are used for measuring angles.

Senior writer Rob Novit is the Aiken Standard’s education reporter and has been with the newspaper since September 2001.