Sidney was a 14-year-old boy with an interest in the sciences. One summer day he started his own investigations. With his 12-year-old sister Sophie in tow, he caught a large bull frog in a local pond. Sidney

Sidney was a 14-year-old boy with an interest in the sciences. One summer day, he started his own investigations. With his 12-year-old sister, Sophie, in tow, he caught a large bullfrog in a local pond.

Sidney, being the self-proclaimed "future world-famous scientist," declared, “Today, we will conduct an experiment on amphibian communication!”

Sophie, who mostly came along because she had nothing better to do, rolled her eyes. "Sidney, the last time you did an experiment, you glued Dad’s slippers to the floor. What’s the plan now?”

Sidney ignored her skepticism and set the frog down on the ground. He clapped his hands and shouted, “Jump, frog, jump!”

The frog immediately jumped forward.

Sidney scribbled in his notebook: “Frog with four legs responds to auditory command.”

Then, he carefully picked up the frog and, using a tiny pair of scissors, snipped off one of its legs (just a little bit—not enough to harm it).

He set the frog down again and clapped. “Jump, frog, jump!”

The frog hesitated but still managed a small hop.

Sidney wrote: “Frog with three legs still responds to auditory command.”

Sophie, now intrigued despite herself, watched as Sidney removed another leg. He set the frog down and repeated the process.

Clap! “Jump, frog, jump!”

The frog barely moved.

Sidney wrote: “Frog with two legs struggles to respond.”

Sophie crossed her arms. “Sid, I think you should stop now.”

But Sidney was determined. He removed the third leg and repeated the command.

The frog wobbled and twitched but didn’t jump.

Sidney’s eyes lit up with scientific curiosity. “One last test!” he announced dramatically, removing the fourth and final leg.

He placed the legless frog on the ground, clapped his hands loudly, and shouted, “Jump, frog, jump!”

The frog didn’t move.

Sidney clapped again. "Jump, frog, JUMP!"

Still nothing.

With a look of great triumph, he scribbled his final observation:

“Conclusion: When a frog loses all four legs, it becomes completely deaf.”

Sophie facepalmed. “You’re gonna fail science class, Sid.”