1. EXt. Dry pond -- DAY
Open on MZ. MOLE, ELINOR, OLIVE,
ARI
and KIDS (as necessary). The kids are spread out, looking for something in different directions. The sun is overhead and it is hot. Mz. Mole is carrying a bag.
Elinor
I think it was that way
.
ari
I’m pretty sure it was over there
.
Olive stands staring at an empty space between a tree and a large rock.
Olive
Where
did it go?
Mz. Mole
Now just what are you all looking for?
The kids gather around Olive. Olive holds up a large picture
.
ANGLE ON: the picture is in full frame, we see the same tree and rock with a pond, surrounded by lush green plants, dragonflies and frogs. The picture also has the kids sitting by the edge with their feet in the pond.
Olive
This really
neat pond we saw the
last time we were here.
The picture is pulled down to reveal the same scene but with no pond and just some dried plants
OLIVE (CONT’D)
But now it’s gone.
Mz. MOLE
Oh,
that IS
a neat
pond
!
But it’s
a
SPRING-TIME
pond.
And what happens a lot in
the spring?
Ari
It rains a LOT?
Elinor
Oh, I get it. Now it's SUMMER and there isn't much rain so the pond is all
dried up.
MZ. MOLE
That’s right.
ArI
But
there
were
so many little critters
living in
the pond. What happened to them
?
MZ. MOLE
Those critters have
some very clever
ways to survive
.
Let’s read about
one of my favorites,
called
Daphnia.
Mz. Mole pulls out a book from her bag and opens to a picture of a pond
2. EXT. IMAGE OF Pond IN BOOK
CROSS/SECTION: We see daphnia bobbing in the
water, they are quite small.
Adult daphnia with eggs image ref:
https:
//
upload.wikimedia.org
/
wikipedia
/commons/thumb/4/
4e
/
Daphnia_pulex.png
/
440px-Daphnia_pulex.png
ElINOR
Look how they bounce up and down
!
Mz. Mole turns the page and with a magnifying glass we can see a Daphnia close up with two eggs on her back.(Or Mz. Mole can us a magnifying glass. Some books have these attached by a string)
OLIVE
She has little eggs on her back!
Mz. Mole turns the page a few times and the
level of the pond drops down
with each turn.
ARI
Oh no, their pond is drying up! We should warn them.
MZ. MOLE
Not to worry, the momma daphnia makes a
special
case
that keeps her eggs safe as the pond dries up.
The Daphnia's back develops a hard brown case. We see the egg case fall off the Daphnia’s back, the daphnia swims away as the case falls to the bottom of the pond.
Egg case ref:
https:
//
upload.wikimedia.org
/
wikipedia
/commons/thumb/5/52/
Daphnid_GLERL_1.jpg
/
440px-Daphnid_GLERL_1.jpg
Pages Turn and we
see the level of the pond drop until there is just dry dirt with a brown egg case resting on it.
ElINOR
Don’t
the little eggs
need water?
MZ. MOLE
They do
. But if they are in their special case
they can wait for
the spring rains
to
fill up the pond
again. Then
, pop!
Out come the new little daphnia.
We see rain fill the water level back up. We zoom in closer to the brown egg case at the bottom. When Mz. Mole says “pop!” Two little daphnia pop out of the case and start bobbing around.
Baby
daphia
image ref:
https:
//
upload.wikimedia.org
/
wikipedia
/commons/thumb/5/52/
Daphnid_GLERL_1.jpg
/
440px-Daphnid_GLERL_1.jpg
OliVE
There they are!
MZ. MOLE
Indeed! Nature has a lot of clever tricks to help pond creatures survive the summer.
3. EXT. pond -- DAY
The kids are sitting around the dried area, looking hot and tired, except for Olive who is next to Mz. Mole
Olive
So there’s a whole pond here just waiting for water
to bring
it back to life?
MZ. MOLE
That’s right! A little like your friends over there.
Mz. Mole smiles and winks at Olive and
pulls
a jug of
water out of her bag
. Olive smiles, puts her trunk in the water, sucks it up and then sprays it in the air. The water falls on the other kids and they start <GIGGLING AND LAUGHING> and running around
Video of swimming:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rOCjjD29SY
3rOCjjD29SY
MZ
https:
watch?v
www.youtube.com
ELINOR WONDERS WHY
EWW
Interstitial 122
Mz. Mole Story Time:
Daphnia
By Matt
Giorgianni
Follows: Frozen Fish - When the pond freezes, Elinor and her friends become worried about how the fish who live there can survive the winter. With Farmer Bear's help they learn they're fine, resting in the cold water beneath the ice
Curriculum: The kids learn about Daphnia, the cute little water flea, that lives in ponds that dry up. They have special eggs which dry out and wait until the rains and streams fill the pond back up, only then do they hatch.
LS4
. Understand that all animals and plants have a life cycle, can reproduce, and change and grow over time:
LS5
. Begin to understand that animals and plants depend on other living things and nonliving things in the environment to meet some of their needs:?
FIRST DRAFT: September 8, 2019
SECOND DRAFT: September 27th, 2019
POLISH DRAFT: October 15, 2019
El
Mz. MOLE
OLIVE
(V.O.)
(O.S.)
(O.C.)
(CONT'D)
(SUBTITLE)
Int
Ext
I/E
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.