1. ext . elinor’s school - DAY It’s another clear day at Elinor’s school. As we TRUCK IN, we hear Ms. Mole, just wrapping up ‘circle time’. MS. MOLE (os) ...and that brings us to the end of circle time. (as we transition) Which means, it’s the beginning of... SNACK TIME! 2. Int. Classroom - continUOUS The kids sit in a semi-circle on the floor. Ms. Mole is stepping away from the chalkboard, dusting off her hands. All kids Yay! / Woo hoo ! / Snack time! Her students get up and happily hurry to get their snacks from their bags. Ms. Mole looks on, as the cloud of chalk dust from her hands builds up. MS. MOLE Ah... Ahhh ... Ah-CHOO ! (sniffs) Mm. I could use a snack too. ARI and ELINOR have their SNACK BAGS in hand as they settle into side-by-side chairs at a TABLE , saving a spot for Olive. Ari does a jazzy little wiggle as he opens his bag. ARI Snack time, snack time... I loooove snack time! Let’s see what I got... I got... He pulls out CARROT STICKS. He looks mildly disappointed. Ari (CONT’D) Hm . Carrot sticks. eLINOR (EXCITED) Ari, you got c arrot sticks! I LOVE carrot sticks, they’re my favorite! Let’s see what I got... Elinor pulls out a BAG OF RAISINS. She looks mildly disappointed. ELINOR (CONT’D) Hm . Raisins. Ari Elinor, you got raisins! That’s awesome, raisins are MY favorite! They both look at their respective snacks, not too excited. Suddenly, they both realize the obvious solution. ELINOR/ari (unison) <GASP!> WANNA TRADE?? The kids happily trade and excitedly start snacking. Elinor looks OFF towards the cloakroom area. ELINOR 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 Ms. Mole’s face. Olive brightens! She hurries to join her friends. OLIVE (low, urgent) (CONT’D) Elinor! Ari! Did you notice? It’s Ms. 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 Ms. Mole , who is busy cleaning the chalkboard, beside a whole wall-full of KID-DRAWN PICTURES of herself. ARI (Unsure) S he already 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 TOTALLY SQUASHED CUPCAKE. Her face falls. OLIVE (disappointed) (CONT’D) Aw ! It squished . How’d that happen? Elinor (EMPATHizes) It must have gotten squished inside your bag. ari (GENTLY) You do carry a lot of stuff in your bag , Olive . Ms. Mole (os) Is everything all right , kids ? CUT TO Ms. Mole as she turns from the chalk-board, her glasses coated in chalk dust. She wipes her glasses while still wearing them. By the time they’re clear again - - Olive, Elinor and Ari have zip ped into an awkward tableau to block her view of the cupcake on the table. OLIVE / elinor / ari Yes! / Fine! / Nuthin’ to see! Ms. 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 notice it. I’d hate to spoil the cupcake 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: 3 . EXT. TOWN NEAR PARK - 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 Ms. Mole’s head. <SPLAT!> BACK TO SCENE. Elinor cringes, just thinking about it. ELINOR That might squish the cupcake too... By now, they’re passing a PARK. Suddenly, a big soft playground ball 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! Poor turtle! Elinor rushes over, with Ari and Olive close behind. At the same time, ROLLIE (an ARMADILLO) enters. RoLLIE Sorry about that! Is the turtle okay? ANGLE ON the turtle - who slowly peek s his head out . T hen his legs pop out , and he looks up at the kids, seemingly unfazed . Ari Yeah, he’s okay. Olive ( chuckle ) He hardly even noticed! The turtle resumes its leisurely walk. Rollie is relieved. ARI <PHEW> He’s a tough little guy. ON Elinor , relieved but also very curious. ELINOR (to herSELF) But how did the turtle not get hurt? Meanwhile, Rollie retrieves his ball from the bushes . Olive What are you playing, Rollie? ROLLIE (casually) Oh, my sister and I are just bumping the ball back and forth. Rollie tosses the ball in the air and playfully <BOUNCES> it off the shell on his upper back. elINOR (SURPRISED) D oesn’t that hurt? ROLLIE Nah . I have protective shell, see? He <TAPS> on his own armour plates. ROLLIE (CONT’D) Nice and hard! ( shrugs ) It’s an armadillo thing. Anyway, I gotta roll. See you later! Rollie waves to Elinor, Ari and Olive, then heads OS to rejoin the game. Elinor glances back at the turtle. ELINOR Maybe it’s a turtle thing, too. Elinor and her friends continue walking. Olive Wow. That’s so cool . Ari It’s like he has a helmet for his WHOLE BODY! Elinor absorbs this new information. ELINOR A helmet for his whole body. Hmm... CUT TO: 4 . EXT. MRS. GORILLA'S JUICE CART - MOMENTS LATER As the kids continue home, Ari wipes his brow. aRI (Whew!) Speaking of ‘whole body’, my whole body is t hirsty. 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. Olive picks up a coconut that’s sitting out on the stand, with an inquiring look. Mrs. Gorilla looks a bit surprised. MRS. GORILLA Oh! But - coconuts are a bit different than oranges... But Olive is already squeezing the 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 get through the shell. I’ll show you! She takes the coconut back, and pokes a hole on the hard shell with an MALLET and an AWL, then pours out the coconut water into three small CUPS. ELINOR So that’s how you get coconut water out. Olive It’s delicious! Ari Yeah! While Olive and Ari talk to Mrs. Gorilla, Elinor curiously examines the coconut shell. Mrs. goRILLA And what brings you to the park today, kids? Olive Well, Mrs. Gorilla, we’re trying to figure out how to stop the squish! MRS. GORILLA The squish? Ari Olive wants to bring a cupcake tomorrow for Ms. Mole’s birthday, but everything Olive puts in her bag gets squished ! Olive (smiling) I like to carry a lot of things. Mrs. GORILLA I see! That IS a hard problem. Or... a soft and squishy problem? Just then, Elinor has a realization. ELINOR Hey, that is SO INTERESTING . It isn’t just turtles and armadillos that have shells to protect th eir insides. Coconuts do too! ARI Huh! That IS pretty cool. Mrs. GORILLA That’s right, Elinor! Lots of things in Nature have shells to protect them. Would you like me to show you? Elinor Yeah! We need MORE OBSERVATIONS! As Elinor and her friends rally around Mrs. Gorilla we hear the beginning of a song… 5. EXT. TOWN - SONG MOMENT - "A Shell" We FOLLOW Mrs. Gorilla, Elinor, Ari and Olive as they step away from the stand and pass through town, encountering a few other creatures with ‘tough outsides’. MRS. Gorilla/elinor/olive/ari (sing) ALL: 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- There’s a beetle, ARI -Look how small! OLIVE - Oops - it bumped into a wall! - but the bug quickly recovers and they watch it fly away. ELINOR -But see? It didn’t hurt at all, It has a kind of shell They walk onward, singing - ALL: 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: 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. OLIVE: But shells are much too hard to crunch ELINOR: That's why it has a shell! The three friends and Mrs. Gorilla skip onward through town and back to the fruit stand, singing - ALL: A shell, a shell Protected by a shell A shell is such a clever way To keep you safe and well The SONG ENDS. By now, Mrs. Gorilla and the kids have circled back to their original positions at the fruit stand. Olive Wow, Mrs. Gorilla, I never knew so many things in Nature had hard covers to protect their insides! Mrs. Gorilla Oh yes, Olive. Shells are very good protection. ON Elinor, as she picks up a coconut and has a brainstorm. ELINOR And I just got an idea for how to protect Ms. Mole’s cupcake ! Off Elinor’s excited look, we DISSOLVE TO: 6. EXT. SCHOOL - DAY WIDE on the schoolyard, the next morning. Ms. Mole supervises as her STUDENTS arrive and greet each other. VARIOUS STUDENTS ( school yard walla ) CLOSER - Ari, Olive and Elinor huddle around Olive’s bag . They are wrapping something inside the bag. Olive (low) Hold the ribbon tight, Ari. I’ve never gift-wrapped something like this before. ELINOR (low) Hurry, here comes Ms. Mole! OLIVE (low) Okay, r eady? ANOTHER ANGLE - as they all turn towards their teacher. Ari is holding their gift in his hands: a coconut, with a bow tied around it! Olive / elinor / ari (in unison) Happy birthday Ms. Mole ! Ms. Mole reacts with surprise and delight! But as Ari holds up the gift a little higher - ARI We got you a birthday - (tugging efforts) - gift - - he realizes that something is wrong. H is finger accidentally got tied into the bow ! ARI (CONT’D) Huh? Hey! Surprised, Ari yanks his hand around, with the coconut still 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 Ms. Mole - who catches it like an outfielder catching a pop fly. MS. MOLE (chuckling) My goodness! You kids are so thoughtful! 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 Ms. Mole , as she slowly and dramatically opens the split-in-half coconut to reveal - - a perfectly INTACT CUPCAKE! The kids beam with relief. ELINOR (CONT’D) The coconut shell worked! The cupcake didn’t get squish ed ! She tugs the cupcake from its snug, carved-out coconut ‘meat’ niche to better admire the coconut itself. Ms. Mole Thank you, kids! Why , that’s the nicest cupcake I’ve ever seen. 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 <SFX: ELINOR, ARI, OLIVE LAUGHING> As the class <SFX: CLASSROOM LAUGH AND CHEER> we PULL BACK and… FADE OUT.

EWW115 "Stop the Squish D2V2 26-Feb19

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ELINOR WONDERS WHY EP.115 “Elinor Stops the Squish” By: Karen Moonah Elinor's Question: How do animals and plants protect themselves? Logline: Elinor worries that the cupcake Olive wants to bring to school for Ms. Mole will get squished - so she comes up with a nature-inspired way to protect it. ET 1b ) - Define a problem that can be solved by the design of a new or improved tool or technology. (Elinor and her friends define the problem of the fragile cupcake that needs protection 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’. SEP 6d ) - Designing Solutions (Engineering) Use evidence to support a theory or solution to a problem. (Elinor and her friend observe how animals and plants in nature are protected by shells, and decide that a shell will protect their cupcake). 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. Line Count - 88 Lines Mains - Elinor, Ari, Olive, Mrs. Gorilla Seonday: Rolliw , Mz . Mole Locations: School, Park, Juice Cart Town Props: Pictogram calendar, Cupcake ( squished an unsquished ), ball, turtle, bananas, coconuts, oranges, june bug, snail coconut holder for cupcake OUTLINE: January. 17, 2019 FIRST DRAFT: February 5th, 2019 SECOND DRAFT: February 25, 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 Ms. Mole Olive Olive / ARI Olive / elinor Olive. Other students ROLLIE ROLLIE’S SISTER Sr Students Tomato mascot VARIOUS STUDENTS All kids ELINOR/ari MRS. Gorilla/elinor/olive/ari (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: 120