1. Ext. LAKE - shore, by the towels - DAY One afternoon at the lake, MZ. MOLE relaxes on a TOWEL near several other STUDENTS’ TOWELS AND ITEMS (BAGS, WATER BOTTLES, HATS, BEACH TOYS, ETC.) and OLIVE’S SATCHEL. ELINOR, ARI, and OLIVE run across the sand wearing SWIM SUITS (AND LIFE VESTS?), while other STUDENTS swim, make sand castles, play, or read. <WHOO-HOO !! EXCITED WALLA> Mz. Mole Enjoy the afternoon, kids. Don’t stray too far. Elinor and her friends stop running and look around eagerly. Elinor What should we do? Play in the water? OlivE Build sand castles? Suddenly, a GREEN FROG hops by, getting the attention of the gang. They watch the frog hop past <RIBBIT RIBBIT> . Ari I know what we can do... (he crouches down) Let’s play Follow That Frog. Ribbit ! Olive and Elinor fall in line behind Ari, crouching into their own frog poses. Elinor (Giggles) Great idea. OLIVE Ribbit ! Ribbit ! Ari hops after the frog, followed by Elinor and Olive. The kids happily bounce along the beach, <RIBBITING AND LAUGHING>. The frog notices them and starts to speed up, gradually gaining distance on them. ARI Hop faster, it’s getting away. The kids speed up as the frog leads them across the shore and turns towards the surrounding GRASS. It stops on a LOG and lets out a pronounced <RIBBIT> before bounding off and disappearing into the vegetation. The kids arrive on top of the log and land in a row, one after the other. They scan their surroundings, searching for the frog. Olive Ribbit ! That’s one speedy frog. Elinor I’ve never hopped faster and it still got away. Where’d it go? Ari I dunno . I didn’t see where it went. As the kids scan the beach and the lake, they hear an unexpected <RIBBIT> from somewhere behind them. Ari (CONT’D) Did one of you just ribbit ? Elinor Wasn’t us. Must be the frog. Olive ears perk up when another <RIBBIT> is heard. OLIVE (pointing) It’s that way, let’s go! Following the source of the sound, the kids bound off the log and run towards the edge of the grass surrounding the lake. Olive (CONT’D) I heard a ribbit from around here somewhere, but I don’t see a frog. Another <RIBBIT> gets their attention. Elinor perks up her ears towards the vegetation. ELINOR It’s in the grass somewhere. Follow That Frog! Ribbit ! Elinor drops into a crouch and bounds off into the grass, followed by her friends, all happily <RIBBITING> . 2. EXT. TALL GRASS - CLEARING - CONTINUOUS The kids hop into the clearing and again stop, looking and listening for the frog. Elinor Now where is it? A <RIBBIT> from behind a nearby ROCK is heard. Ari perks up his ears and looks at the rock. ARI I think I can hear our little froggy friend behind that rock. The kids approach the rock and peer around it, spotting the green frog sitting on A LOG with TWO BROWN FROGS. The kids are out of the frogs’ ear shot and can’t be heard. Ari (CONT’D) Here he is! Check it out, they’re having a frog party. olive Oooo fun... are we invited? Elinor and Ari <GIGGLE>. Elinor We found the frog by listening with our ears instead of looking with our eyes ? Isn’t that cool? Olive Even when it was far away, I could still hear it because of my bog ears. Elinor perks up her ears and rotates them left and right. ELINOR My ears are tall and I can turn them left and right, so I can hear sounds coming from almost anywhere. Ari wiggles his ears up and down proudly. ARI Ok ... but can you do this ? Olive and Elinor <GIGGLE>, and are interrupted by a <RIBBIT> . Elinor looks back at the frogs and notices something. ELINOR Hmmm ... I’ve never really noticed this before, but it doesn’t look like frogs have any ears at all. Elinor and Ari look closer. CLOSE UP on the frog reveals it, indeed, doesn’t have any noticeable ears! Ari (amazed) You’re right. They don’t have big ears like Olive, tall ears like Elinor, or... (demonstrating) ...wiggly ears like me. Elinor How interesting! (a thought occurs) Wait a sec ... if frogs don’t have ears, can they hear ? The kids watch as the green frog <RIBBITS> and the brown frogs <RIBBIT> back in unison. This repeats. Olive It sure seems like they can hear each other. Ari Try talking to them, Elinor. Elinor (a LITTLE LOUDER, to frogs) Hello froggies ! The frogs look up at Elinor, startled to see the kids for the first time. They quickly hop off <RIBBITING> . Ari Yup . They heard you all right! The kids head back towards the lake. Elinor Hmmm ... I wonder, how can frogs hear if they don’t have ears? Olive Too bad they bounced off before we could find out. 3. Ext. LAke - shore, by the towels - continuous The kids arrive back at the shore as Elinor considers. ELINOR Are frogs the only animals that don’t have ears? Ari and Elinor think about it while Olive looks towards the lake. Her eyes brighten with an idea! olive That’s fish! I mean, that’s it... Fish! I don’t think fish have ears either. Elinor (brightly) I think you’re right! Let’s go see. The kids run into the shallow lake. 4. EXT. Lake - shallow water - continuous The gang stops at waist level in the lake and looks around for fish. All of a sudden, SEVERAL SMALL FISH approach and circle them. The kids lean in for a closer look. olive I don’t see any ears on these fish, do you? CLOSE UP on a FISH in the water, revealing no visible ears. Elinor Nope. No ears at all. Not big ones, tall ones, or wiggly ones. ARI Why would fish need ears anyway? It’s impossible to hear underwater... isn’t it? Elinor (has an idea) Let’s try it and see, who wants to go first? Ari shoots up an eager arm and waves it around as if trying to get a teacher’s attention. Ari Oh oh! I’ll do it, whatever it is. Elinor pretends not to see him. Elinor Anyone? Olive? Ari jumps up and down and waves his arm more obviously. Ari Ah! Me! Pick me! I’m right here! Olive stifles a <GIGGLE>. Elinor looks around for a half beat before she finally “sees” Ari. Elinor (acting suRprised) Oh, Ari, I didn’t see you there. Ari relaxes with a <HUGH RELIEVED SIGH>. Ari Phew! Yes please! The friends all share a <LAUGH>. Elinor (Giggling) Ok , take a deep breath and dunk under the water. We’ll make noise and you tell us if you can hear it. Ari nods, takes a breath to fill his cheeks, plugs his nose, and plunges into the lake. UNDERWATER: The fish bolt as Ari lowers into the water. He sits on the lake floor and gives his friends a thumbs up. ABOVE: Olive and Elinor share a nod and call to Ari. Olive / elinor(Calling) Arrrriii ! UNDERWATER: Ari looks up at his distorted friends. Olive / elinor (muffled) (CONT’D) Arrrrriii ! Ari brightens, he can hear his muffled name! ABOVE: Ari resurfaces, playfully splashing his friends. Elinor How was it? Ari struggles to hear Elinor. He turns his head sideways and shakes water from his ear. Ari Huh? I can barely hear you with water in my ear. (he clears it) Ah... I can hear much better now. Olive So could you hear us under water? Ari Yup ! It was kinda muffled though. ELINOR Great! So now we know you can hear underwater. But what about fish? Can they hear without ears? Elinor notices the fish heading back towards them. elinor (CONT’D) Oh, the fish are coming back... Let’s find out. As the kids stand still, the fish return. Olive stifles a <GIGGLE> and struggles to stand still as the fish circle her. Olive (whisper) (Giggles) They’re tickling me! elinor (a little louder) Hey fish! Can you hear me? Stop tickling my friend! The fish look at Elinor and bolt! A relieved Olive relaxes. ari Yup . They heard you all right. elinor So now we know fish can hear... (wondering) But if they don’t have ears, how are they doing it? Hmm.... The kids silently consider. At that moment, Mz. Mole drifts by on an INFLATABLE WATER LOUNGER . Mz. MOLE Heya kids! Enjoying your lake day? ELINOR Yep. We’ve been observing frogs and fish. MZ. MOLE Oh? And what have you noticed? Ari That frogs and fish don’t have ears like we do. He wiggles his ears. Olive But we discovered that they can still hear. Elinor So now we’re wondering how they can hear if they don’t have ears. Mz. Mole stifles a <GIGGLE> and turns her head. Mz. MOLE Have you ever noticed that it doesn’t look like I have ears like yours either? The gang looks at her as if for the first time. Her head is smooth and seemingly ear-less! The kids are shocked! Ari Woah , no ears? But you can hear us. (then, unsure) ...right ? MZ. MOLE I sure can, Ari. Elinor Hmmm ... so how can you hear if you don’t have ears? MZ. MOLE I didn’t say I don’t have ears, it only looks like I don’t. Have a closer look... Mz. Mole parts the fur on the side of her head as the kids lean in. SCIENCE CU: Mz. Mole has small lobe-less ears on the sides of her head surrounded by fur. elinor (Gasp!) You do have ears! (squinting) But I can barely see them. Mz. MOLE I sure do. Any animal that can hear has ears. Elinor (considering) How interesting! So if fish and frogs can hear, that means... (realizing) They must have ears too! Mz. Mole nods and releases the fur around her ear which disappears under it. Mz. Mole Exactly! You all have ears that are easy to see. Big ones... tall ones... or wiggly ones. The kids perk up (or wiggle) their ears as they’re mentioned. Mz. MOLE (CONT’D) But some animals have ears that are much harder to spot... like mine. elinor Why are your ears hidden by fur anyway? Mz. Mole Moles, like me, tunnel underground. My ears are small and protected by fur so dirt doesn’t get in. Elinor / olive / ari Cooooooooool ... Olive looks in the water at the fish who are returning to them yet again. She considers. Olive If Mz. Mole’s ears are made for hearing underground, maybe fish have ears for hearing underwater? Elinor Great idea, Olive! We need more observations. Olive starts <GIGGLING> as she’s tickled underwater. Olive ( suppressing giggles) The tickling fish are back! Hurry, I don’t know how long I can stand still. Elinor, Ari and Mz. Mole all look closer at the fish. SCIENCE CU : The fish have no visible ears on their heads. ari Hmm... I still can’t see any ears at all. Are they invisible? Mz. Mole Not invisible, in side . The kids share a confused look. In THOUGHT BUBBLE, a FISH IN PROFILE appears. Mz. Mole (CONT’D) Olive is right, fish have ears that are made for hearing underwater, which is why you can’t see them! QUESTION MARKS appear around the fish’s head. ZOOM into to an X-RAY of the head, revealing the OTOLITH (fish’s ear) inside. Mz. Mole (CONT’D) Fish ears look so different from yours, there’s nothing to see on the outside at all... because a fish’s ear is inside its head! The kids can’t believe it! <SFX: WHOOA WALLA> Elinor How interesting! So fish really do have ears. Ari And they look really really different from ours. Olive can’t keep it together anymore and suddenly bursts out <LAUGHING>. The startled fish scatter. Olive ( giggling subsides) Sorry, I couldn’t hold still any longer. (then) My knees are really ticklish. Elinor You did great, Olive! I couldn’t have stood still for that long. Olive (proudly) Totally worth it to learn that fish have ears inside their heads. Elinor Totally! ( then ) I wonder about the frogs. If they can hear, then they must have ears too, right? Suddenly, a <RIBBIT> gets the kids attention. They look back to the shore and see the green frog from earlier. Ari Let’s go find out! Thanks Mz. Mole. Mz. Mole Have fun... come back to tell me what you discover. The gang bounds back towards the shore. Olive scoops up her SATCHEL from her TOWEL as they chase after the frog. 5. Ext. Lake - shore, large rock - contINUOUS Further up the shore, the frog settles on a LARGE ROCK at the edge of the lake. The kids approach quietly. The green frog <RIBBITS> and the brown frogs from earlier suddenly emerge from the lake and jump onto the rock. Ari Look at that! The brown frogs heard the green frog from underwater. The three frogs <RIBBIT> back and forth as they did earlier. Elinor They can hear above the water too. Their ears must be made to work both ways. Ari (recalling) When I had water in my ears, it was hard to hear. Maybe frogs have ears that help keep water out? The gang leans in closer to the frog. SCIENCE CU: The friends notice a SMALL CIRCULAR PATCH OF SKIN behind a frog's eye. Elinor Hmm... I didn’t notice that small circle before. Maybe that’s an ear? Olive Let’s check my Nature Book. Olive pulls her NATURE BOOK out of her satchel and flips through it. Ari and Elinor look on as she lands on an DRAWING OF A FROG’S HEAD with the SMALL CIRCLE clearly visible. Olive (CONT’D) It is part of it’s ear! It stops water from getting in when the frog is underwater, but also lets it hear when it’s above water, too. As if to illustrate, one of the brown frogs hops from the log and disappears into the lake. The green frog <RIBBITS> and the brown frog resurfaces before <RIBBITING> a reply in unison with the other brown frog. Ari Now that is cool. Elinor C’mon ... let’s go tell Mz. Mole what we observed. MUSIC STARTS as they perk up, hold out and wiggle their ears. SONG: Elinor / OLIVE / ARI (singing) My ears are here, Your ears are there, Ears can be most anywhere! They watch the frogs, who <RIBBIT> along, hopping in and out of the water. ELINOR: It might seem like they have none at all, ARI: But frogs have ears that hear your call. OLIVE: If they’re on the water or below, ALL: They take their ears wherever they go. The green frog hops off the log and bounces back along the shore. The kids drop into frog poses and hop after it. ALL: My ears are here, Your ears are there, Ears can be most anywhere! Ext. Lake - shallow water - continuous The frog speeds away from them so the gang bounces into the lake. The kids spot the approaching fish. ELINOR: Fish can hear you with great ease, ARI: Ears in their head makes that a breeze. Olive winces and reacts to something unseen underwater. OLIVE (to fish): Fish oh fish, oh hear me please! REVEAL the fish are circling Olive, ticking her again! OLIVE (to fish): Can you stop tickling my knees?! The fish scatter and the kids run back to shore. Elinor spots Mz. Mole relaxing on her towel and the gang runs towards her. ALL: My ears are here, Your ears are there, Ears can be most anywhere! Ext. LAKE - SHORE, by the towels - conTINUOUS MUSIC STOPS as the kids land on towels next to Mz. Mole. Elinor Mz. Mole! Frogs have ears that don’t look like ours either. OlIVE They’re like little circles on the side of their heads. Ari (in disbelief) Who knew there were so many kinds of ears? Mz. Mole (blissful) It really is wonderful how different they can be, isn’t it? Suddenly, a FAMILY OF DUCKS waddles past them. One BABY straggles behind distractedly and the MAMA DUCK looks back and <QUACKS>! The baby perks up and catches up <QUACKING>. olive Look! Those ducks don’t have big ears, tall ears or wiggly ears. ELINOR (wonderinG) Hmm... what do duck ears look like? ARI I know how we can find out... Olive hops down into a duck pose, holding her arms as wings. OLIVE Let’s play Follow That Duck! Ari and Elinor happily drop into duck poses behind her. Elinor / OLIVE / ARI Quack! Quack! Quack! IRIS OUT as the gang <QUACKS> happily as they waddle after the ducks. THE END.

EWW159 "Ears To You" D1 09Jan20 .

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ELINOR WONDERS WHY EP 159 "Ears to You" By: Tom Berger Logline : One day at the lake, Elinor and her friends notice that certain animals don't appear to have ears and they wonder how they can hear without them. Curriculum Goals: LS2: Understand that animals have different body parts that are used in different ways to meet their needs. (The kids observe and experiment to discover that different animals have unique hearing depending on their needs and environment) SEP1: Ask more complex questions about observable phenomena (Elinor wonders how various animals can hear when they don't appear to have ears) MAIN CHARACTERS: Elinor, Olive, Ari, Mz . Mole PROPS: Towels, misc. beach props (water bottles, hats, beach toys, etc.), Olive's satchel and Nature Book, swim suits, green frog, brown frog x2 , fish, inflatable water lounger , family of ducks FIRST DRAFT: January 9, 2020 Ari Elinor OLIVE Olive / elinor Ari / elinor / olive Mz. Mole Elinor / olive / ari Elinot Ari / olive / elinor (V.O.) (O.S.) (O.C.) (CONT'D) (SUBTITLE) (Whispering) (amazed) (to frogs) (Giggling) (Calling) (muffled) (wondering) (reading) (proudly) (singing) INT EXT I/E 5 SCHOOLYARD LAKE FOREST - PATH FOREST - CLEARING LAKE - SHALLOW WATER EXT. LAKE - SHORE LAKE - SHORE - TOWELS DAY NIGHT AFTERNOON MORNING EVENING LATER MOMENTS LATER CONTINUOUS THE NEXT DAY RECESS CUT TO: FADE IN: FADE OUT. FADE TO: DISSOLVE TO: BACK TO: MATCH CUT TO: JUMP CUT TO: FADE TO BLACK.