<p>The green tree frog officially hopped into Georgia law Tuesday, when Gov. Sonny Perdue signed a bill naming the tiny creature the state's official amphibian.</p><p>Flanked by the students who dreamed up the idea nearly three years ago, Perdue added the frog to a list of 43 other state symbols _ from the Vidalia onion, the state vegetable, to the Slosheye Trail Big Pig Jig, the official state pork cook-off.</p><p>The students, who were fourth-graders at Armuchee Elementary School in Rome, were studying how a bill becomes law when they decided to launch their effort on behalf of the frogs, which live in much of the state.</p><p>Along the way, their bill was mocked by some lawmakers, derailed in Senate committees by others and postponed at least once because it falls in a section of Georgia law that would have allowed legislators angry about the new state flag to revive that issue.</p><p>"We saw it begin and we saw it end," said Matthew Gibbons, 11, now a sixth-grader at Armuchee Middle School. "After about two years, it seemed like it just had been forgotten about."</p><p>Gibbons and his classmates attended a signing ceremony on the steps of the state Capitol Tuesday morning, followed by a trip to Atlanta's Fernbank Museum of Natural History, where a display features the frogs.</p><p>"We think these Rome students received a real learning experience from their efforts to pass this legislation _ they got to see the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of the process," said Perdue spokesman Dan McLagan. "This was clearly an important day for them."</p><p>Marilyn McLean, one of the fourth grade teachers who started the effort, said even she and her fellow teachers learned about the lawmaking process through the bill.</p><p>Teachers took students to the state capitol last year to lobby for the plan and a procedure that prevents bills from being amended on the House or Senate floor was ultimately used to prevent a flag bill from being tacked onto it.</p><p>"In education, we're all the time trying to do lessons that give kids real life experience," McLean said. "This definitely taught them that."</p><p>And while the lesson was mostly civics, educators say there's an environmental lesson to be learned as well. Green tree frogs are highly susceptible to pollution in their environment, and their presence is considered a sign of healthy surroundings.</p><p>"It will be an important state symbol as we look at ways to clean up our water and air," said Ruth Pinson, who teaches science at Armuchee Elementary. "Having the green tree frog as a symbol is a step in the right direction _ we sure don't want them to become endangered."</p><p>Next up for the students? Green Tree Frog Day has been declared for May 6 at the elementary school.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1d0c0e0)</p>
