I think the story is clever and the stress on the ANT words fun. I worry some about the take away message....just getting to know behaviors of fun animals is ok. I think turning salad into fungus is really tricky but could be convinced that the main take away is to learn a little about these types of ants...I think kids will like the chompers. I also wonder/ worry about if we should say something so that kids don't become afraid of ants. Do leaf cutters only bite into leaves? 1. ext school garden -- DAY Today’s story time takes place outside in the school garden. MS. MOLE walks into frame. Ms. MOLE Who’s ready to hear a garden story? There are several kids sitting in the garden, facing Ms. Mole. All kids Me!/I’m ready!/Yeah! MS. MOLE Oh, my, aren’t you all ANT-sy to hear it! Ms. Mole brings out her Nature Book. Ms. MOLE (CONT’D) Well, today’s story is about one KIND of ant called a LEAF-CUTTER ANT. Ms. Mole opens the book to a page that shows a leaf cutter ant walking along an anthill tunnel. MS. MOLE (CONT’D) Leaf cutter ants make some of the biggest anthills in the world! The storybook graphic zooms out to reveal a huge anthill about 30 meters wide, using a generic animal icon and two regular houses for scale. Kids Whoooaaa .../ Ooohhhh /Wow! Ari That anthill looks bigger than two houses! Elinor Ms. Mole, why is that ant called the “leaf-cutter ant”? MS. MOLE Ah! That’s a very import-ANT question, Elinor! Ms. Mole flips the page and we see an ant on a big green leaf. Ms. MOLE (CONT’D) They’re called “leaf-cutters” because they use their chompers to cut pieces of leaves! The ant chomps away like a buzzsaw with its mandibles, cutting away a big piece of the leaf. Olive Why does the ant cut the leaf, Ms. Mole? Ari I bet they use it to make a salad! (rubbing his stomach and smacking his lips) I love salads! Ms. Mole flips the page to show an ant at a table about to eat a leafy green salad. Ms. MOLE They do eat salads, Ari, but they’re not leaf salads! The leafy salad is taken away from the ant, and the ant looks confused. Ms. MOLE (CONT’D) Leaf cutter ants like to eat MUSHROOM salads! The salad is replaced with a plate of mushrooms. The page flips and the graphic shows ants taking the pieces of leaves, chewing them up and making a fungus garden. Is a mushroom LIKE a fungus or is one type of fungus? MS. MOLE (CONT’D) They take the pieces of leaves and chew them up to grow a FUNGUS garden. A fungus is like a mushroom. The book shows ants harvesting the fungi and feeding it to their young. Ari I always knew eating mushrooms was FUN-gus . MS. MOLE <LAUGHS> That it is, Ari. So you see, kids, some ants grow their own food in gardens, just like we do! With that, we go back to the garden scene. Kids Ooohh / Coool .../Whoa... Suddenly, we see that Ms. Mole is moving sideways. ZOOM OUT to reveal she’s being carried away by ants. Ms. MOLE Oh! Well! I guess it’s time to go gardening! The ants walk her off screen and we IRIS OUT to... END.

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ELINOR wonders why 104 INTERSTITIAL: Ms Mole Story time: ANT GARDENS Written by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson Follows "The House that Ants Built." This dives deeper into how ants use the rooms in their nest. Curriculum: The kids learn that ant nets are big and that leaf-cutting ants feed leaves to their fungus garden. Learning Goals: LS4 . Begin to understand that animals and plants depend on other living things and nonliving things in the environment to meet some of their needs. [ Ant use leaves to grow their fungus food ] ND3 . ( RTL Crosscutting concept ‘Structure and Function’) Understand that structures and materials in the natural world can be used or can inspire the engineering of structures with similar function in the designed world. [ Ants have gardens just like we do.] FIRST DRAFT: January 31st, 2019 Ms. MOLE ARI MS MOLE ELINOR OLIVE All kids Kids (V.O.) (O.S.) (O.C.) (CONT'D) (SUBTITLE) INT EXT I/E 1 ARI: I HAVE A COUSIN THAT EATS ANTS ARI: WHAT DO ANTS TASTE LIKE? INT CLASROOM -- DAY DAY NIGHT AFTERNOON MORNING EVENING LATER MOMENTS LATER CONTINUOUS THE NEXT DAY CUT TO: FADE IN: FADE OUT. FADE TO: DISSOLVE TO: BACK TO: MATCH CUT TO: JUMP CUT TO: FADE TO BLACK.