1. Ext. LAKE - shore, by the towels - DAY It’s a gorgeous day, and MZ. MOLE and the STUDENTS are arriving at the LAKE. MZ. MOLE walks precariously, balancing a TALL STACK OF SUPPLIES. Her arms are so full that she can barely see over the top. ELINOR (wearing a SWIMSUIT) walks with her, also carrying SUPPLIES. CLASSMATES enter with then, and they run off eagerly to swim (with life vests), make SAND CASTLES, or read on TOWELS. ElinoR What a great day for a field trip to the lake! Mz. Mole bumps into Elinor and a SUN HAT drops from her pile and onto her head. Elinor (CONT’D) (Giggles) A perfect fit! Mz. Mole Is that you Elinor? Can you see somewhere I can put this stuff down? Elinor assess where they’re standing . ELINOR This is the perfect spot. Mz. Mole drops the supplies with a comedic <FWUMP> . Elinor puts her supplies down and returns Mz. Mole’s sun ha t . Mz. MOLE Phew. Thanks Elinor. I didn’t think we’d need quite so many supplies for our field trip. (she puts on the hat) But you can’t be too prepared! Elinor <GIGGLES> and shakes out a TOWEL for Mz. Mole to sit on. ARI and OLIVE approach (also wearing SWIMSUITS). OLIVe (to ari) Of course you can. ARI (to olive) No way. You can’t do it. They stand off, face-to-face (good-naturedly). Ari / olive Can! Can! Can! / Can’t! Can’t! Can’t! Elinor (Giggling) What are you two talking about? Olive Ari thinks you can’t hear sounds underwater, but I think you can. Ari covers his ears with his hands . ARI You can’t hear things with all that water. It’s like covering your ears . Mz. Mole Well now, this sounds like an interesting question. Ari (still covering his ears) What’s that?! I can’t hear you. Elinor <GIGGLES> and moves Ari’s hands away from his ears . Elinor How about now? Ari Oh, now I hear you . See? I can’t hear with covered ears. Olive But being underwater isn’t the same thing . Elinor Ari, Olive... we don’t have to argue about it. The lake is right there. We can go investigate and find out. Olive Good idea, Elinor. Ari Let’s go. Mz. Mole Don’t forget to have fun... and wear life jackets! She pulls LIFE JACKETS from the supplies. The kids grab them as they run towards the lake. 2. EXT. Lake - shallow water - A MOMENT LATER. The gang (now wearing LIFE JACKETS) runs into the lake. ElinoR Ok , who wants to try it 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. Elinor (GIGGLING) Ok , take a deep breath and hold it, then go under the water. We’ll make a sound and you tell us if you can hear it. Ari takes a deep breath and holds it . He leans forward and dunks his head deep enough to cover his face and ears. Elinor (to olive) (CONT’D) Ready? 1... 2... 3! Olive sticks her trunk in the water and <TRUMPETS>! UNDERWATER: Ari’s eyes go wide as he hears a <MUFFLED TRUMPET SFX> . He pulls his head out of the lake. Ari (fake earnest) I could hear you! See? I knew you can hear underwater. .. Even if it did sound muffled. OLIVE (Laughing) Ari! I ’m the one who said we could hear underwater, you said we couldn’t. A curious GREEN FROG swims past Olive. She <GIGGLES>. olive (CONT’D) Look, it’s a little frog. That’s so cool. Ari turns h is head sideways and shakes water from his ear. Ari Ugh. I got water inside my ear. Ari starts to hop around. Ari (hopping) (CONT’D) Water! Get! Out! Of! My! Ear! Ari hop s around as Elinor and Olive <GIGGLE>. Suddenly, a <RIBBIT> from the beach gets the kids attention. They turn to see the green frog hopping along the sand. Elinor Is that your new friend, Olive? Olive It sure is. Elinor Hey, speaking of ears... I never noticed before, but do frogs have ears? ari (still jumping ) If they do, how do they keep water out of them? Ack ! Elinor looks after the frog in the distance and squints. Elinor It doesn’t look like it has ears. But i t’s hard to tell from so far away. Olive We should get a closer look . I know! Let’s play Follow The Frog! Elinor Great idea. We need more observations. The girls run off and Ari finally clears his ear. Ari (relieved) Ahhh , finally the water is gone...(then, noticing) Huh? Ari realizes the girls left, shrugs, and follows them. 3. Ext. LAKE - SHORE - CONTINUOUS The kids (no longer in life jackets) drop off their life jackets and catch up to the frog. Ari crouches down behind it. Olive and Elinor crouch into their own frog poses. ARI Ribbit ! Follow The Frog! OLIVE Ribbit ! Ribbit ! Ari hops after the frog, followed by Elinor and Olive , keeping a safe and respectful distance from it . The kids happily bounce along the beach, following the frog under UMBRELLAS, around sand castles, and over BEACH BALLS. The frog speeds up and starts to gain distance on them. ARI Hop faster! It’s getting away. The kids speed up. Turning away from the lake, the frog hops over a LOG and bounds into the surrounding GRASS, disappearing in it. After a beat, the kids land in a row on top of the log, one after the other. They scan their surroundings, searching for the frog. Olive Ribbit ! Where’d the frog 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) Huh? Did one of you just ribbit ? Elinor It wasn’t me. Olive? Olive Wasn’t me either. It must have been- Olive is interrupted by a <RIBBIT> ! The kids’ ears perk up. OLIVE (pointing) (CONT’D) The frog! 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. Ari That ribbit came from around here, but I don’t see the frog. Another <RIBBIT> gets their attention. Elinor perks up her ears, turning them 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> and hopping. 4. EXT. TALL GRASS - CLEARING - CONTINUOUS The kids hop into the clearing, catching up to the green frog who sits calmly on a SMALL STONE. Elinor Aha! There it is! Olive (nodding) I heard the croaks because my ears helped me hear from far away. ARI Yeah, I could hear it too. Ari wiggles his ears and t he girls <GIGGLE>. They’re interrupted by a <RIBBIT> . The gang leans in for a closer look. CLOSE UP on the frog reveals it, indeed, doesn’t seem to have ears! ELINOR Look, I don’t see any ears on that frog at all. Ari (amazed) You’re right. It doesn’t have big ears like Olive, long ears like Elinor, or... (demonstrating) ...wiggly ears like me. Elinor That’s sooo interesting! (a thought occurs) Frogs don’t seem to have ears. Hmm... But if it doesn’t have ears, does that mean the frog can’t hear? An unexpected <RIBBIT> from behind a nearby LARGE ROCK gets the frog’s attention. It bounds off behind the rock. The gang shares a curious look. OLIVE I think I heard another ribbit . The kids approach the rock and peer around it, spotting the green frog sitting on A LOG with TWO BROWN FROGS. Ari Check it out - a frog party. olive Oooo fun... (giggle) are we invited? The kids <GIGGLE> and watch as the green frog <RIBBITS> and the brown frogs <RIBBIT> back in unison. This repeats. (NOTE: It should be obvious the frogs are communicating with each other). ELINOR (GASP)! They seem to be talking to each other. It looks like frogs can hear ! The frogs look up at Elinor, surprised to see the kids. Elinor (to frogs) (CONT’D) Hello froggies ! The frogs are startled by her and t hey hop away . Elinor (CONT’D) Oops! ( giggles ), they sure seem to have heard me, they hopped away. (then) But I wonder how can frogs hear if they don’t have ears? Ari Yeah, I thought you needed ears to hear. Olive Too bad they went away before we could find out. Mz. MOle (O.S.) Kids! Snack Time! Ari cups a hand around an ear towards the lake. Ari Snacks?! I definitely heard that! His stomach <GURGLES>. Ari (patting his belly) (CONT’D) I think my tummy did too, c’mon ! The girls share a <GIGGLE> and follow Ari back to the beach. 5. Ext. LAke - shore, by the towels - continuous The kids arrive back at the shore as students get JUICE BOXES and FRUIT SLICES from Mz. Mole. The gang approaches and Mz. Mole hands them SNACKS (which Ari quickly devours). MZ. MOLE How did the investigation go? Did you figure out if you can hear underwater? Ari We sure did ! ( toying with Olive) You can hear underwater, just like I said. OLIVE (smiling) Ari! You said we couldn’t ! Ari (pretending he forgot) Are you sure? Hmmmm ... ( then ) Just kidding, you were right all along. Olive and Ari share a <LAUGH>. Mz. Mole notices Elinor is deep in thought. Mz. MOLE You look like you have another question, Elinor. Elinor Well, after we did our experiment, we followed some frogs and we saw them talking to each other. Mz. Mole Mmm . Ok ... Elinor But it didn’t look like the frogs had ears. So how could they hear each other? Ari Yah ! They don’t have big ears, long ears or... (demonstrating) Wiggly ears! Mz. Mole <GIGGLE S > and looks at the kids while they ponder for a moment. Mz Mole smiles, she knows what to do. Mz. MOLE Have you ever noticed what my ears look like? The gang looks at her as if for the first time. Her head is smooth and seemingly ear-less! The kids are shocked! Ari Mz. Mole, we hadn’t noticed before, but it looks like you don’t have ears, either! Olive But we know you can hear us. MZ. MOLE I sure can, Olive . 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) They’re so small, I can barely see them. Mz. MOLE That’s because they look different than yours. You see, not every animal hears the same way as you. Elinor (considering) How interesting! So that means that frogs might have ears, but we didn’t see them because their ears don’t look like ours. 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, long ones, or... She looks at Ari who wiggles his ears. Mz. MOLE (CONT’D) (Giggles)... or wiggly ones. But some animals have ears that are much harder to spot... like mine. elinor Why are your ears hidden by fur Mz. Mole ? Mz. Mole Moles, like me, live in tunnel s underground. My ears are small and protected by fur so dirt doesn’t get into them. Elinor / olive / ari Cooooooooool ... Olive considers. Olive If Mz. Mole’s ears are good for hearing underground, maybe frogs have ears that are good for hearing under water ? Elinor That’s a good idea, Olive. Maybe you’re right... Suddenly, a <RIBBIT> gets the kids attention. They look around and spot the green frog hopping along the beach. Ari Let’s look at the frog again ! Thanks for the snacks, Mz. Mole. Mz. Mole You’re welcome... come back to tell me what you discover. Elinor Let’s Follow That Frog! The kids drop into frog poses and hop after the frog. 6. Ext. Lake - shore, large rock - contINUOUS U p the shore, the frog settles on a LARGE ROCK at the edge of the lake with the brown frogs . The kids approach quietly and lean in closer to the green frog. SCIENCE CU: The friends notice a SMALL CIRCULAR PATCH OF SKIN behind it’s eye. Elinor Look at that round patch of skin... could that be the ear? Olive It doesn’t have a little hole... like Mz. Mole’s ear does. Ari Maybe.... that patch of skin is covering the hole? Elinor Gasp! Maybe the frog’s ear is behind it! Olive But why? Why would it cover its ear? The green frog suddenly jumps into the lake. Ari I’ll get a closer look. Ari puts his head underwater, but comes back up after a beat. Ari (jumping around) (CONT’D) Ack ! I got water in my ear again! Elinor watches Ari jump around and realizes something... Elinor I know! Maybe their ears are covered to keep water out! The green frog hops back out of the water to rejoin the brown frogs. The kids lean in and a SCIENCE CU shows WATER DROPS running down the patch of skin. Elinor (CONT’D) That’s it! Look, no water is getting in. The frogs <RIBBIT> back and forth, as earlier. Olive You’re right, Elinor! We figured it out. Let’s go tell Mz. Mole! The kids run off excitedly. 7. Ext. Lake - by the towels - contINUOUS Mz. Mole is reading a NATURE BOOK on her towel when the kids run in and drop down next to her. Elinor Mz. Mole! We think the frog does have ears, but they’re covered by a patch of skin. Olive Yeah, the patch of skin keeps water from going in the ear. Ari But they can still hear fine. We saw them talking to each other. Mz. Mole Well, aren’t you all the most clever scientists. Have a look... As Mz. Mole shows them the book, A THOUGHT BUBBLE grows and SIMPLE ANIMATION shows a FROG hopping in and out of water. Mz. Mole (CONT’D) Most animals need to hear to live and play in their environment, so they have different ears to help them. Frogs ears help them live underwater and on the ground. BUBBLE SHOWS: A FISH underwater and a BIRD flies in the air. Mz. Mole (CONT’D) Fish live underwater, and birds live in the air, so they both have ears that can help them do that. BUBBLE SHOWS: ARI, ELINOR and OLIVE’S EARS. Mz. Mole (CONT’D) Just like your ears can help you live and play in your environment too! Elinor That’s so amazing! Ari (proudly) My ears can help me laugh, too. Olive (confused) How can your ears make you laugh? Ari proudly wiggles his ears and everyone <LAUGHS>. MUSIC STARTS . SONG: Elinor / OLIVE / ARI (singing) OLIVE: Big ears! ELINOR: Long ears! ARI: Cute-and-wiggly bat ears! ALL: If we counted all the ears, We’d be counting ears for years! The frogs bounce past and the kids fall in line, hopping along respectfully after them along the beach. ELINOR: It seems like they have none at all, ARI: But frogs have ears that hear your call. OLIVE: You might be surprised to know, ALL: They work above water or below. The frogs hop into and out of the lake, demonstrating. OLIVE: Big ears! ELINOR: Long ears! ARI: How-cool-are-these frog ears? ALL: If we counted all the ears, We’d be counting ears for years! The kids perk up, hold out and wiggle their ears. ELINOR: Bunny ears are long and they, Turn this way or that-a-way, OLIVE: I can pull my big ears wide, But that makes them hard to hide! OLIVE: Big ears! ELINOR: Long ears! ARI: Covered-by-fur mole ears! ALL: If we counted all the ears, We’d be counting ears for years! The MUSIC CONTINUES as the frogs bounce past the kids again. They drop into frog poses and hop after them <LAUGHING AND RIBBITING> . THE END.

EWW159 "Ears To You" POL 14Feb20 .

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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 SECONDARY CHARACTERS: Deputy Mouse PROPS: Towels, misc. beach props (water bottles, hats, beach toys, umbrellas, etc.), Olive's satchel and Nature Book, swim suits, green frog, brown frog x2 . FIRST DRAFT: January 9, 2020 SECOND DRAFT: February 4, 2020 Ari Elinor OLIVE Olive / elinor Ari / elinor / olive Mz. Mole Elinor / olive / ari Elinot Ari / olive / elinor Ms DEUPTY MOUSE DEPUTY MOUSE Elinor4 Elinor\ Olie (V.O.) (O.S.) (O.C.) (CONT'D) (SUBTITLE) (Whispering) (amazed) (to frogs) (Giggling) (Calling) (muffled) (wondering) (reading) (proudly) (singing) (fingers still in ears) (to elinor) (realizing) (relieved) (pretending he forgot) INT EXT I/E 5 SCHOOLYARD LAKE FOREST - PATH FOREST - CLEARING LAKE - SHALLOW WATER EXT. LAKE - SHORE LAKE - SHORE - TOWELS LAKE - SHORE, BY THE TOWELS LAKE - BY THE 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. 120