I like that Elinor has invented something that does exactly exist...at least not in children's lives. I have a few language comments below. 1. EXT farmer bear’s farm -- DAY Nice! A few comments from us. It’s a bright, late winter morning in Animal Town, and several families have gathered at Farmer Bear’s farm for a community event called Pancake Day. We see kids running around and parents chatting (including the Rabbits and others). ELINOR, ARI and OLIVE are walking around and talking excitedly about the day. ARI Awesome! Pancake Day is finally here. OLIVE Yeah, Ari. I love it . Mrs. Gorilla makes the best pancakes. We see MRS. GORILLA off to one side with an outdoor griddle, mixing ingredients in a bowl with some kids helping her. ELINOR Mmm, I can’t wait to eat a big stack of them. They all lick their lips and pat their bellies as they share a joint thought bubble of a SHORT stack dripping with syrup. ELINOR (CONT’D) I’m going to eat THIS many pancakes. She uses her paws to show the distance between her belly and neck. The thought bubble stack grows to that size. OLIVE (FRIENDLY COMPET i TIVE) Yeah, Elinor? Well, I’m going to eat even MORE . She gestures with her trunk as high as it can go. The thought bubble stack grows. ARI Well, Olive, I’m going to eat the BIGGEST stack ever ! He flies up to show a ridiculously high stack, and the thought stack gets super tall and falls over. They all <GIGGLE>. The kids continue walking, and we see several animals helping set up the tables and bring out plates. ELINOR It’s great that everyone is helping out for Pancake Day. We pan over to see SALLY BEAVER and MRS. BEAVER cranking out wood furniture amazingly quickly. ARI There’s Sally Beaver and her mom making tables and chairs for everyone. OLIVE They are SO good at that. ELINOR It’s amazing! Olive looks around. olive Let’s go ask Farmer Bear when its time to eat some pancakes! The kids <SFX: YEAH WALLA> and look around for a beat. ARI Where IS Farmer Bear? Elinor I don’t know. Let’s go ask my mom. The kids walk over to Ranger Rabbit, who’s chatting with some other animals. ElinOR (CONT’D) Hi, Mom! RangER RABBIT Oh, hi, Elinor. ELINOR Have you seen Farmer Bear? Ranger Rabbit looks around thoughtfully. RANGER RABBIT Oh. She’s probably off making the syrup for the pancakes. OlIVE She’s making the syrup? Ari Whoa, you can make syrup?? I thought you just got it at the store! RANGER RABBIT <BENIGN CHUCKLE> Well, somebody has to make the syrup, Ari. Syrup comes from maple trees. Farmer Bear has a grove of them right over there. She points to a nearby grove of maple trees and the kids look over. Ranger Rabbit goes back to her conversation. olive Huh, I never thought about where syrup comes from. Since line 24 starts with "Yeah," can we cut this one? Or the one at 24? Elinor Yeah, it comes from trees? That is SO interesting! Ari has an idea. Ari Let’s go check out the syrup trees. Maybe we’ll find Farmer Bear there! Elinor gets excited. ELINOR Yeah, we need MORE observations! 2. Ext. Maple tree grove - day The kids run across the farm and enter the maple tree grove. Olive looks around a bit. Olive I don’t see Farmer Bear anywhere. Elinor is curiously studying a maple tree. Elinor Hmmm... My mom said that syrup comes from these trees, but how does that work? Olive and Ari join in her curiosity. OLIVE Good question ... Maybe the syrup comes from a fruit on the tree? Ari Yeah, l ike an apple or an orange . ELINOR Maybe... but I don’t see any fruit on these trees. The kids look at the trees around them, and none of them have any fruit. ELINOR (CONT’D) Maybe they make the syrup from the leaves of the tree? Can we clarify that there are no leaves in winter on these trees. OlivE Good note from Sara; we need to indicate that the tree just doesn’t have leaves now because it’s winter. Hmmm, but none of the trees have any leaves either. The trees are all leaf-less. Ari gets a thought . Ari Maybe the syrup is ON the tree? There’s only one way to find out... He walks over to the tree and... licks it. OliVE Ari! Ari processes the taste, smacking his lips. After a beat, he makes a face. ARI Nope, the tree doesn’t taste like syrup. The kids <GIGGLE>. Ari rolls the taste in his mouth. Ari (CONT’D) Hmm, now my mouth tastes like tree bark. Olive refers to Ari directly by name here and at 39. Maybe we can drop one? Olive Do you want to go back and get some water, Ari? ARI Nope, I have just the thing. A n emergency juice box! He pulls a juice box out of his pocket and opens it so the straw is sticking out. He slurps noisily. <SFX: SLURPING>. We get a clear shot of juice flowing up the straw. Ari (CONT’D) Ahhh... that’s better. Olive <GIGGLES> Ari, you’re always so prepared. Elinor (still looking at the tree) Hmm, so then where DOES the syrup come from? At that moment, FARMER BEAR rolls up with a wagon and a big pot. FARMER BEAR Oh, hello kids! elinor Hi, Farmer Bear! Olive We were looking for you! FARMER BEAR Oh? How come? OLIVE We heard you were making syrup, and we wanted to see how you did it. I like "and" instead of "yeah" so it doesn't sound they are ONLY in it for personal gain. ARI Yeah, do you need help tasting it? I’m an EXPERT syrup taster. Ari licks his lips. Farmer Bear smiles. FARMER BEAR Well, first we have to MAKE the syrup, Ari. And that’s why I’m here in this tree grove. Elinor Yeah, my mom said that syrup comes from these trees, but we can’t figure out how . We don’t see any fruits or leaves. Olive And the trees don’t taste like syrup. Ari tried it. Ari It doesn’t taste like syrup at all . Farmer Bear <CHUCKLES>. FarMER BEAR Well, that’s because the syrup doesn’t come from anything ON the trees. It comes from what’s INSIDE the trees. The kids go <OHHHH>. FARMER BEAR (CONT’D) Come with me, I’ll show you. The kids follow Farmer Bear as she pulls the wagon deeper into the tree grove. 3. EXT. deeper in the MAPLE GROVE – DAY The kids and Farmer Bear stop at a point deeper into the grove. Many of the trees are tapped and their sap is dripping into buckets. ARI What’s that watery stuff coming out of the trees? I really like how you pulled out the content more. I have a few suggestion for tweaking lines 54-59 to bring in a little more precise vocabulary- If Olive uses the word juice here instead of "that" OLIVE We agree with all of Sara's suggestions for this section I didn’t know trees had that inside. Bear could then use the word "liquid" is tree sap FARMER BEAR That’s maple tree sap. It’s what we make maple syrup out of. Watch. The kids are astounded. Farmer Bear takes a spile and a mallet and taps it into a nearby maple tree that doesn’t have any buckets. As the kids look closer at it, Farmer Bear grabs a bucket from her wagon and props it under the spile. After a few beats, clear tree sap starts dripping down. Elinor could ask "So that liquid is inside the tree all the time? ElinOR Wow... that’s like juice from the tree. Ari- Just like the juice in my juice box. Then continue with lines 58-59 FARMER BEAR That’s right! Tree sap is just like tree juice. ARI Ooh, I like juice! I’ve had apple juice, and orange juice and grape juice-- Ari takes a sip of his juice box. maybe add "like oranges, apples, and grapes" to end of this line FARMER BEAR Thank you, Ari. But tree sap is a little different from those juices because it comes from INSIDE the tree, not from any fruit. Olive looks closer at the spile. Olive Does that hurt the tree? FARMER BEAR Not if you make just a little hole. ELINOR Farmer Bear, why do trees have tree sap inside? There's some repetition between 63 and 64L "to all the different parts of the tree." Maybe tweak 63 to, "Trees use tree sap to spread water and sugar inside the plant. It's how the tree gets what it needs to stay healthy." FARMER BEAR Good question, Elinor. Trees use tree sap to spread water and sugar to all the different parts of the plant. It's how the tree gets what it needs to stay healthy. Here, I think I have a picture in my tree book . Farmer Bear rummages a bit in her wagon and pulls out a book with a little tree on the cover. She opens it up and shows the kids a page with a simple x-ray visual of the INSIDE of the tree, with sap moving and going to all of the branches. "See? The tree sap spreads to all the different parts of the tree, using tiny little tubes to travel all over." FarMER BEAR (CONT’D) See? The tree sap spreads water and sugar to all the parts of the tree , using tiny little tubes inside of it. Ari Whoa... Ari takes another sip of his juice box. ELINOR Oh! They look like the straw in Ari’s juice box! They all look appreciatively at Ari’s juice box. Ari Wow, look! I’m a tree! <SLUURRP> The kids <GIGGLE>. Farmer Bear closes the tree book . love it FARMER BEAR That’s right. Trees are more than just the leaves and fruit on the outside . There’s a lot happening inside of them, too. Now, who wants to help me gather all this tree sap ? ElINOR Me! ARI Yeah! Over a quick montage, the kids help Farmer Bear bring the sap buckets to the wagon and pour the tree juice into the pot. Soon, they are all done, and Ari empties the last bucket into the pot. He eyes the last few droplets. Ari (CONT’D) Can I try the tree sap, Farmer Bear? FarMER BEAR Sure, go ahead, Ari. Ari puts a drop on his finger and tastes it. ARI It tastes like water. With maybe a TINY bit of syrup flavor. Olive and Elinor try it too. descirptive words for syrup to include "thick" "sticky" and "yummy or sweet" Elinor But Farmer Bear, if th e tree sap is watery and not sweet , h ow do you make goopy syrup out of it? FARMER BEAR Well, it’s time to head to the Sugar Shack to find out! The kids follow Farmer Bear as she pulls the wagon back towards the farm. 4. INT BACK OF FARMER BEAR’S BARN - DAY Farmer Bear leads them to a small, open structure at the back of the barn. Inside are two big kettles. One of the kettles is empty and stands over fresh logs. The other one looks like it cooked for a while, and the logs are now burned out. FarMER BEAR Welcome to my Sugar Shack! This is where we turn the tree sap into syrup. She pours the newly collected sap into the empty kettle and lights a fire. NOTE: Farmer Bear is the only one who can be near the fire. FARMER BEAR (CONT’D) We cook it for a long time, and that makes it thicker and thicker, and sweeter and sweeter, until-- elinor It turns into delicious syrup! FARMER BEAR That’s right. This one cooked for a long time , but now it’s been sitting and cool ing off since this morning . Farmer Bear points to the kettle with the ready syrup. ARI Is it ready yet? Should I taste it? You know, just to check ? Farmer Bear takes out a ladle and scoops some up. She brings it up to inspect it, and we see up close that it is thick and golden colored. FARMER BEAR I think it’s ready! ARI Woohoo! They all taste a little using individual spoons Farmer Bear gives them . Everyone nod s happily. ELINOR It’s ready! OLIVE It’s sooooo goood! ARI Hmm, I’m not TOTALLY sure. Can I try some more? The kids <GIGGLE> as Ari tries some more. Farmer Bear grabs a bottle from a nearby table full of empty bottles. FARMER BEAR Ok! Now it’s time to fill up the bottles so everyone can have syrup with their pancakes! Farmer Bear slowly and very carefully starts pouring some syrup from the ladle into the bottle. The kids look at the big table of empty bottles. ELINOR Do we need to fill up ALL the bottles? FARMER BEAR Oh yes. That way everyone will have their own bottle of syrup. The kids look at each other a little worried. At that moment, Ranger Rabbit comes into the Shack. Ranger RABBIT Oh, hi kids. Hi, Farmer Bear. FARMER BEAR Hello, Ranger Rabbit. ELINOR Hi mom! We are helping make the syrup! Ranger Rabbit eyes the long line of empty bottles. RANGER RABBIT That’s wonderful, Elinor. Uh, Farmer Bear? Mrs. Gorilla has just about finished making the pancakes, and she wants everyone to eat them while they are hot. FARMER BEAR Oh, um... But we haven’t finished pouring the syrup into the bottles. OLIVE Uh oh. It’s going to take a long time. FARMER BEAR Maybe we should eat the pancakes without syrup this year? The kids look shocked and exclaim in unison: OLIVE/ARi/ELINOR PANCAKES WITHOUT SYRUP? ELINOR That’s like having toast without butter. olive Or a sandwich without lettuce! ari Or a pickle without peanut butter! Everyone looks at Ari, who shrugs. ari (CONT’D) I like pickles with peanut butter. RANGER RABBIT Let’s focus on the syrup. Can we help you get it into bottles? FARMER BEAR I don’t know. I only have one ladle . RANGER RABBIT Hmmm... How can we get the syrup into the bottles faster? The group thinks for a moment. Suddenly, Elinor has a thought . In a THOUGHT BUBBLE, she remembers the x-ray view of the tree from before, and how the tree sap spreads out to all of the branches on the tree. ELINOR Wait! I think I have an idea! I’ll be right back! She runs off and after a few moments comes back with Sally Beaver and her mom. They huddle to confer. ELINOR (CONT’D) Ok, here’s what I’m thinking. Elinor draws on a sheet of paper as she talks . ELINOR (CONT’D) Trees use little tubes to spread tree sap to all the different parts of the tree, right ? Ari and Olive nod. Elinor shows everyone what she drew: a doodle of the kettle at the bottom, and some bottles spread around the page . Instead of "the same way" maybe have her say "like this" and point to the drawing ELINOR (CONT’D) Like Sara’s note to reference the drawing here to better illustrate this point. W ell, w hat if we build something that spreads the syrup to the bottles the same way? Elinor connects the kettle and the bottles with a network of branching channels, just like the tree . She draws arrows showing how the syrup would flow from the kettle to the bottles. farmer bear That’s a great idea, Elinor! T h at will help us fill lots of bottles all at once . Let’s try it! Sally and her mom nod and they quickly whip up Elinor’s idea: a delivery system consisting of U-shaped channels that branch out from a central channel. From the top, it looks just like the x-ray of the tree. Ari Wow, awesome! elinor Thank you, Sally and Mrs. Beaver. Now let’s spread the syrup ! MUSIC MONTAGE: The kids sing as they put the bottles in place at the ends of the branching channels and Farmer Bear pours syrup into the base of the new system. SONG: the rhyming is a little inconsistent throughout the song. The first and last stanzas don't rhyme (unless you're trying to rhyme "up" and "syrup"? In which case, it's still an AABC pattern whereas the others are ABCB), and the second and third rhyme the same words with each other, twice ("out" and "about"). Wondering if we can strengthen this at all -- it feels a little cobbled-togeter at the moment. ELINOR/OLIVE/ARI Fill the bottles up Fill them with syrup! We need a lot So everyone gets enough! Inside a tree Tree sap moves about Let’s learn from this To spread the syrup out Pour it in the top And watch it move out Just like a tree It all gets spread about Fill the bottles up Fill them with syrup! We need a lot So everyone gets enough! At the end of the song, they have filled all the bottles! 5. EXT FARMER BEAR’S FARM - DAY Farmer Bear pulls a wagon filled with syrup bottles around to where everyone is seated. We see Mrs. Gorilla serving the pancakes. FARMER BEAR Who is ready for syrup? A forest of hands go up, <CHEERING>. The kids bring syrup bottles out to each table. Soon, everyone is eating happily: Gee Raffe is cutting up her pancakes, but her head is off screen (i t’s unclear how she will eat them! ). Silas finishes his pancakes in almost no time. Mz. Mole smells the pancakes and looks excited about eating them. Finally, Ari and Elinor sit down to steaming piles of pancakes next to Olive, Farmer Bear and Ranger Rabbit. OLIVE Mmm, it’s SO good . ARI I ’m SO ready to eat these pancakes. ELINOR Ari, wait! Don’t forget the syrup! Elinor hands a bottle of syrup to Ari. ARI Aww, thanks , Elinor. You’re so... SWEET! They all <LAUGH> as the camera pulls up and we... END

EWW128 Syrup Tree D2 June 3, 2019 .

<SFX: Ahhh Hmmm Mmm

.

ELINOR WONDERS WHY EP 128 Syrup Tree By: Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson Elinor's Question: Where does maple syrup come from? Logline: The kids learn what tree sap is and help Farmer Bear make enough maple syrup for Pancake Day. Curriculum Goals: LS2b 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. (b) Identify the basic parts of plants and their function. [ The kids learn that trees use sap to move stuff around inside.] ET1b Define a simple problem that can be solved through the design of a new or improved tool or technology [ The kids design an improved delivery system ] 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. [ The kids use the branching-tree structure as inspiration for the branching-stream sap delivery system.] SEP1d : Identify a problem that can be solved by the design a new or improved object or tool [ Need a new pouring system for the syrup. ] SEP6 - designing solutions to a problem MAINS: Elinor, Olive, Ari, Farmer Bear LOCATIONS: Sugar Shack (interior and Exterior), Maple Grove PROPS: Wagon, barrel, spiles , juice box with straw, almanac, kettle, ladle, syrup bottles, Syrup delivery system (made by Sally) pancakes OUTLINE: Apr 2, 2019 FIRST DRAFT: May 6, 2019 SECOND DRAFT: June 3, 2019 ELINOR OLIVE ARI SILAS ELINIR MARY LIZZIE MR RaCCOON ELINR TAPIR MZ Mole KOA SALLY FARMER BEAR R Ranger RABBIT OLIVE/ARi/ELINOR ELINOR/OLIVE/ARI (V.O.) (O.S.) (O.C.) (CONT'D) (SUBTITLE) INT EXT I/E 1 EXT MAIN FOREST PATH -- DAY MAPLE TREE GROVE 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. END