1. Int. Classroom - DAY We join Elinor’s class during the happy hubbub of snack time. ARI and ELINOR have their SNACK BAGS in hand as they settle into side-by-side chairs, saving one for Olive. Ari does a jazzy little wiggle as he opens his bag. ARI Snack time, snack time... ooh, I got raisins! eLINOR I got carrot sticks! Elinor looks OFF towards the cloakroom area. ELINOR (CONT’D) Olive? Did you find your snack? CLOAKROOM AREA - Olive is still digging deep in her bag. She takes out SEVERAL HARDCOVER BOOKS, a JUMBO BOX OF CRAYONS... OLIVE It’s in here somewhere... aha! Found it. Olive finally pulls out a SMALL BROWN BAG and heads back to join them. On the way, she passes an oversized WALL CALENDAR, with pictograms on special days. She double-takes. ZOOM IN on a BIRTHDAY CAKE pictogram, with Mrs. Mole’s face. Olive brightens! She hurries to join her friends. OLIVE (low, urgent) (CONT’D) Elinor! Ari! Did you notice? It’s Mrs. Mole’s birthday tomorrow! ARI Teachers have birthdays? Elinor (chuckling) Of course they do. Let’s do something nice for her! OLIVE We could make her a picture? CUT TO Mrs. Mole, who is busy cleaning the chalkboard, beside a whole wall-full of KID-DRAWN PICTURES of herself. ARI Enh , she has a lot of pictures. ELINOR How about a craft? CUT TO: the teacher’s desk, groaning under a collection of CRAFTS. (PENCIL CUPS, WALNUTS WITH GOOGLY EYES, etc.) OLIVE (part os) She has a lot of those, too. ( beat ) I know! I’ll bring her a cupcake tomorrow! Mom made a whole batch for her book club. In fact... I got one for snack! With great ceremony, Olive reaches into her snack bag and pulls out - a SLIGHTLY SQUASHED CUPCAKE. Her face falls. OLIVE (disappointed) (CONT’D) Aw ! It squished . How’d that happen? ELINOR (GENTLY) You do carry a lot of stuff in your bag. Mrs. mole (os) Is everything all right? CUT TO Mrs. Mole as she turns from the chalk-board, her glasses coated in chalk dust. As she pauses to clean them - - Olive, Elinor, and Ari zip into an awkward tableau, to block her view of the cupcake on the table. OLIVE / elinor / ari Yes! / Fine! / Nuthin’ to see! Mrs. Mole squints at them for a moment, then nods and goes back to what she was doing. The kids look relieved. ARI Phew! She didn’t see it. I’d hate to spoil the surprise. OLIVE (worried) And I’d hate to spoil her cupcake tomorrow. What if it goes ‘squish’ like this one? ELINOR Don’t worry, Olive. We’ll just have to find a way to stop the squish! Off her expression of deep thought, we DISSOLVE TO: 2. EXT. TOWN - DAY After school, Elinor, Ari and Olive walk home together, brainstorming a solution to their cupcake conundrum. eLINOR Maybe you could carry the cupcake on a plate? OLIVE I could... but what if I trip? THOUGHT BUBBLE - Olive imagines herself carrying a plate with a cupcake on it, as she hikes down a path full of exaggerated obstacles. Rocks, tree roots, banana peels... OLIVE (CONT’D) Whoa... whoa... OOF ! Olive slips on a banana peel, and falls forward. <SQUISH!> BACK TO SCENE. Ari nods, agreeing. ARI That would squish it all right. What if I fly it to school? THOUGHT BUBBLE - Ari imagines himself holding the cupcake as he flies. But since Ari’s paw is connected to his wing, the cupcake goes up and down as he flies. Up, down, up, down, UP - ARI (CONT’D) WHOA! - he loses his grip, and the cupcake arcs through the air! IN THE SCHOOLYARD - It lands on Mrs. Mole’s head. <SPLAT!> BACK TO SCENE. Elinor cringes, just thinking about it. ELINOR That might be risky too... By now, they’re passing a PARK. Suddenly, a volleyball comes bouncing across their path. ROLLIE (os) Heads up! The ball misses them, but it does bounce over and <BONK> - - A TURTLE, who was creeping along at the side of the path. He quickly pulls his head and limbs inside his shell. ELINOR (DISMAYED) Oh, no! Is it hurt? Elinor rushes over, with Ari and Olive close behind. But she’s surprised to see the turtle peek his head out - then his legs pop out and he resumes his leisurely stroll. Olive No. He hardly noticed! Elinor is surprised - and very curious. ELINOR That’s SOO interesting! How did the turtle protect itself? Cautiously, she reaches out and <RAPS> on his shell. ELINOR (CONT’D) His shell is really hard. Ari and Olive gently <TAP> on it with their knuckles too. ARI Yeah. Reminds me of my bike helmet. ELINOR (thoughtful) Maybe his shell works the same way as a helmet? You know, to keep him safe. Just then, ROLLIE (an ARMADILLO) enters looking for his ball. RoLLIE Sorry about that! He retrieves it from the bushes. ROLLIE (CONT’D) My sister was trying to hit me with the ball, but she missed. eliNOR (surprised) Hit you with it? Ari points at the ball. ARI Well, don’t give it back to her! ROLLIE (grins) ( laugh ) It’s okay, we’re playing dodgeball. It’s part of the game. Rollie tosses the ball in the air and playfully bounces it off his chest - it flies off screen. elINOR But doesn’t that hurt? ROLLIE Nah . I have armour . See? He <TAPS> on his own armour plates. ROLLIE (CONT’D) Nice and hard! ( shrugs ) It’s an armadillo thing. ROLLIE’S SISTER (OS, distant) Rollie! C’mon ! Rollie looks OS, then waves to Elinor, Ari and Olive. ROLLIE Gotta roll. See you later! Rollie heads OS to rejoin the game. Olive Wow. His armour protects him. Ari Like a helmet. Or a turtle shell! Elinor absorbs this new information. ELINOR I wonder if anything else in nature is like that? (excited) We need more observations! As Elinor rallies her friends OS, we launch into… 3. EXT. TOWN - SONG MOMENT - "A Shell" We FOLLOW Elinor, Ari and Olive as they pass through town on their way home, encountering a few other creatures with ‘tough outsides’. ELINOR / ari / Olive (sing) A shell, a shell Protected by a shell A shell is such a clever way To keep you safe and well Just then, Elinor sees - - A JUNE BUG in flight! Suddenly, it bumps into the side of a building and loses altitude - ELINOR (sings) There’s a beetle, look how small! OLIVE (sings) Oops - it bumped into a wall! - but the bug quickly recovers and they watch it fly away. ELINOR (sings) But that’s okay, ‘cause after all, A beetle has a shell They walk onward, singing - ELINOR / ari / Olive (sing) A shell, a shell Protected by a shell A shell is such a clever way To keep you safe and well Ari points to a SNAIL, climbing up a sturdy plant stalk. A bird hops closer... Ari (part os; sings) You see that snail? I have a hunch A bird would like him for her lunch ...but when the bird tries to snap up the snail, its beak glances off the hard shell. The bird gives up and moves on. ELINOR (sings) But shells are much too hard to crunch That's why it has a shell! The three friends skip onward through town, singing - ELINOR / OLIVE / ARI (sing) A shell, a shell Protected by a shell A shell is such a clever way To keep you safe and well The SONG ENDS, and the kids scamper OS! CUT TO: 4. EXT. MRS. GORILLA'S JUICE CART - MOMENTS LATER As the kids continue home, Ari wipes his brow. aRI (Whew!) I’m thirsty. Mrs. Gorilla (Part os) Well you came to the right place! REVERSE ANGLE - they’re approaching a JUICE STAND run by an effusive MRS. GORILLA. The stand is decorated and stocked with BANANAS, COCONUTS and ORANGES. MRS. gORILLA (CONT’D) Would you like a free sample of coconut water? Smiling brightly, she holds up a coconut in one hand. ELINOR Yes, please! Thanks, Mrs. Gorilla. OLIVE Can I squeeze out the juice? I love making orange juice at home. Mrs. Gorilla is a bit taken aback. MRS. GORILLA Oh! But - coconuts are a bit different than oranges... But Olive is already squeezing a hard-shelled coconut over a cup as hard as she can, with her hands, then her trunk. Olive ( strain ) Wow. The outside is hard! Ari (confident) I think you have to peel it first. Like this! Ari takes the coconut, and pries at it - with no luck. aRI (CONT’D) (strains) How’re you supposed to get into this thing?! Mrs. Gorilla smiles. MRS. GORILLA You have to break the shell. I’ll show you! She takes the coconut back, and punctures the hard shell twice with an MALLET and an AWL, then pours out the coconut water into three small CUPS. ELINOR So that’s how you get the coconut water out. Mrs. goRILLA And there's more good stuff inside. Stand back! With a big KNIFE, <THUNK!> she splits the coconut neatly in two, revealing the hollow space inside. Then, with a SPOON, she scrapes up some coconut ‘meat’ for them to try. OLIVE (nibbling) Mm. Thank you! The inside is softer than the outside. ELINOR Hey, I just realized. It isn’t just turtles, beetles and snails that have shells to protect their insides. Some plants do too! ARI Huh! That IS pretty cool. ANGLE ON Elinor, having a brainstorm. ELINOR And I just got an idea for how to protect Mrs. Mole’s cupcake. Elinor turns to Mrs. Gorilla. ELINOR (CONT’D) Mrs. Gorilla, do you mind if we keep this coconut shell? MRS. GORILLA Be my guest! Off Elinor’s excited look, we DISSOLVE TO: 5. EXT. OLIVE’S HOUSE / INT. OLIVE’S KITCHEN ESTABLISH Olive’s house. A short time later. aRI (Part OS; mouth full) Mm. Delishush . Mrs. Mole’s going to love her birthday cupcake. INSIDE - Ari, Elinor and Olive sit at the kitchen table. Ari and Elinor are sharing a cupcake. Two more PINK-FROSTED CUPCAKES remain on a plate in the middle of the table. OLIVE IF I can get one to school without squashing it. So what’s your idea, Elinor? ON Elinor. She holds the two coconut halves. ELINOR Well, we know that shells can stop things from getting squashed... ARI / Olive (nodding) Yes? / So? ELINOR So, this coconut shell is just the right size to hold a cupcake! Elinor places one cupcake inside the half shell, and fits the other half on top, like a lid. ELINOR (CONT’D) Ta-da ! One cupcake carrier. She lifts the lid off again. The swirl of icing is intact! ARI AMAZING! But how’s the lid going to stay on? OLIVE Hang on - I might have something... Olive grabs her schoolbag and digs around inside it. Ari shares a grin with Elinor. ARI ...in your bag? Of course you do. OLIVE Elastic bands! Olive has found TWO ELASTIC BANDS. She puts these around the (closed) coconut, which holds the halves together nicely. eLINOR That might work! Can I see? Olive hands the coconut to Ari, to pass to Elinor - but Ari’s hands are still slippery with frosting, and he fumbles it! ARI Ahh ! It drops onto the table and <ROLLS> over to Elinor, who catches it in surprise. ARI (GUILT-STRICKEN) (CONT’D) Sorry! Frosting fingers. He wiggles his pink-frosted fingers. Olive ruefully hands him a WET-WIPE from her bottomless satchel. Elinor opens the coconut to reveal that the cupcake is an upside-down sticky mess. She frowns. ELINOR The lid stayed on all right, but the cupcake bounced around inside. Ari grabs a spoon, ready to make the best of it. ARI Well, let’s take care of that mess! He lifts the mangled cupcake onto his plate. Just then - ELINOR Hey! Remember how Mrs. Gorilla scraped out some coconut for us? She points to the divot in the bottom of the shell. ELINOR (CONT’D) What if we carve out a little circle that’s just the right size to hold the bottom of a cupcake? Maybe then it won’t bounce around! OLIVE Let’s try it! Elinor grabs a clean spoon and gets busy carving out a niche. ARI Do you think it’ll work? OLIVE I sure hope so. There’s only one cupcake left! As we PAN TO the last pretty cupcake left on the plate, we DISSOLVE TO: 6. EXT. SCHOOL - DAY WIDE on the schoolyard, the next morning. Mrs. Mole supervises as her STUDENTS arrive and greet each other. VARIOUS STUDENTS (school yard walla ) CLOSER - Ari, Olive and Elinor huddle around the elastic-closed coconut. Elinor holds it while Ari presses his finger on a ribbon that Olive is tying into a BOW on top. Olive Hold it tight, Ari. I’ve never gift-wrapped a coconut before. ELINOR You should give it to her, Olive. The cupcake was your idea. OLIVE But the coconut carrier was yours! ARI You can both do it. Ready? ANOTHER ANGLE - as they all turn towards their teacher. Ari / Olive / elinor (cheer) Happy birthday Mrs. Mole! But as the girls turn, they accidentally swing Ari around too... because his finger got tied into the bow! ARI Whoa! Hey! Ari yanks his hand around, with the coconut tied on. He finally shakes it off - but accidentally throws the coconut! OLIVE / ELINOR Oh no! / Look out! It flies in an arc, right to Mrs. Mole - who catches it like an outfielder catching a pop fly. MRS. MOLE (chuckling) My goodness! What do we have here? Elinor, Olive and Ari come closer, sharing a worried look. ELINOR (nervous) Uh. Better open it, and find out. ANGLE ON Mrs. Mole, as she slowly and dramatically opens the coconut carrier to reveal - - a perfectly INTACT CUPCAKE! The kids beam with relief. ELINOR (CONT’D) The shell worked! It didn’t squish! MRS. mOLE Thank you, kids! Why that’s the nicest cupcake I’ve ever seen. She tugs the cupcake from it’s snug, carved out niche to better admire the coconut itself. MRS. MOLE (CONT’D) And how in the world did you know about my coconut shell collection? Elinor looks blank. ELINOR Your what? For a moment, Elinor looks in amazement at her friends - then they all crack up laughing. ELINOR / OLIVE / ARI ( laugh ) Other students ( ad lib cheers and birthday wishes) As they class laughs, cheers and wishes their teacher a ‘happy birthday’, we PULL BACK and… FADE OUT.

EWW115 "Stop the Squish D1 5-Feb19

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ELINOR WONDERS WHY EP.115 “Elinor Stops the Squish” By: Karen Moonah Elinor's Question: How do animals protect themselves? Logline: Elinor worries that the cupcake Olive wants to bring to school for Mrs. Mole will get squished - so she comes up with a nature-inspired way to protect it. SEP 1d ) - Asking Questions. Identify a problem that can be solved by the design of a new or improved object or tool. SEP 6a ) - Constructing Explanations. Use background knowledge experience and data to construct reasonable explanations and theories of natural phenomena. Elinor works out that ‘hard outsides’ protect ‘soft insides’. LS2 - Understand that animals have different body parts that are used in different ways to meet their needs, and that plants have different parts that help them survive and grow. Elinor observes the tough skin and shells of animals and plants that protect them. ND3 - 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. Elinor and friends make a cupcake carrier out of a coconut. OUTLINE: January. 17, 2019 FIRST DRAFT: February 5th, 2019 Ari Ari / Olive / elinor Crowd elinor Elinor / Olive ELINOR / Olive / ari ELINOR / Olive / ARI / farmer bear / lambs Elinor / Olive / ari / others eLINOR / Olive /a FARMER BEAR G L Lamb 1, 2, 3 / beaver LamB 1, 2, 3 / BEAVER / farmer bear / Olive / ari / elinor Mrs. Mrs. Gorilla Mrs. mole Olive Olive / ARI Olive / elinor Olive. Other students ROLLIE ROLLIE’S SISTER Sr Students Tomato mascot VARIOUS STUDENTS (V.O.) (O.S.) (O.C.) (CONT'D) (SUBTITLE) (to herself) (muffled) (os) (thoughtful) (grins) (sings) INT EXT I/E 6. EXT 1 A SOUVENIR STAND DROP LADDER BEAVERS' PRACTICE AREA SCHOOLYARD CLASSROOM MRS. GORILLA'S JUICE CART INT. CLASSROOM DAY NIGHT AFTERNOON MORNING EVENING LATER MOMENTS LATER CONTINUOUS THE NEXT DAY MINUTES LATER CUT TO: FADE IN: FADE OUT. FADE TO: DISSOLVE TO: BACK TO: MATCH CUT TO: JUMP CUT TO: FADE TO BLACK. ‘fluff’ wipe to: