18x04 - The Secret Shortcut

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look,
it's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends who know
and ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look,
it's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

Captioning made possible by
u.s. Department of education

Hi, here I am in one of my
favorite places in the world...

Central park.

It's hundreds of acres of
beautiful hills and trees

With paths that crisscross
every which way for miles,

And it's all smack dab
in the middle of new york city.

Heh heh! Isn't it something?

Today, I'm supposed to meet
some of my friends way across
the park for a picnic.

I suppose the easiest
thing for me to do

Would be to take a shortcut.

Well, that's what the kids
in this book did.

They tried to take a shortcut,

But it didn't turn out
anything like they expected.

Instead, they ended up going
on a totally wild adventure.

It's called the secret shortcut.

On monday, wendell and floyd
were late for school.

They had nearly been captured
by space creatures,

They told their teacher.

[Space creatures
speaking unintelligibly]

"Ridiculous!"
Said ms. Gernsblatt.

And she warned them
not to let it happen again.

But tuesday was no better.

Pirates were loose
in the neighborhood.

[Pirates singing]

It was sheer bad luck,
wendell and floyd explained

When they showed up
late for school.

"Preposterous!"
Said ms. Gernsblatt.

On wednesday, even though
wendell and floyd left early,

A plague of frogs
made them late once again.

[Frogs croaking]

"Absurd!"
Cried their teacher.

"I'm warning you--

"Be here on time tomorrow,
or else.

And no more crazy excuses."

Floyd arrived at wendell's house
so early the next morning that
the sun was barely up,

And wendell was still
in his pajamas.

"I got an idea--
we'll follow my secret shortcut

And get to school even sooner."

"Shortcut?" Said floyd.

"I didn't know there was any
good shortcuts to school."

Conway, as wendell:
"well, this is the secretest
shortcut of all.

In fact,
I invented it myself."

He led floyd up the alley,
then down a culvert,

Over a fence,
and through a dense thicket
of blackberry vines.

And then they scrambled
over some boulders,

Down a steep bank.

"This is some shortcut!"
Said floyd.

"Relax! We'll--we'll--
we'll be there in a minute."

[Animals chattering]

But the forest became thicker
and darker.

And soon it was hung with vines

And the screeches of strange
jungle animals echoed
all around.

[Animal roars]

"Um, m-maybe we t-t-took
a w-w-wrong turn," said floyd.

"Nah. I'm pretty sure the school
is right up ahead. Ha ha!"
Wendell told him.

But the jungle only grew wilder,

And when the boys
finally came to a trail,

It didn't lead straight
to the school.

Instead, it meandered through
quicksand swamps

And past large,
sleepy crocodiles.

"I have an idea--
we'll climb a tree

And see if we can
spot the school."

They chose the biggest,
tallest tree they could find

And climbed all the way
to the top.

Conway, as wendell:
"do you see the school?"

Conway, as floyd:
"i--i don't even see the town."

[Monkey chittering]

"Um, I have another idea,"
said wendell.

"Yeah, what is it?"
Asked floyd.

He was getting tired
of wendell's ideas.

"Ah, we'll swing from these
vines just like the monkeys.

Now, that way,
we'll travel much faster."

Soon, they were swinging
from vine to vine.

Conway, as wendell:
"I knew this shortcut
would work out."

But at that moment,
they ran out of vines,

And the boys landed
kabool-blop-plop-jaboolp
in a giant pool of mud.

"Oh, now what'll we do?"
Asked floyd.

Conway, as wendell:
"I don't know. I'm outta ideas."

And they sat in the puddle

And thought about
all the trouble
they were going to be in.

Just then, from far away,
they heard the schoolbell ring.

Diddle-ing dong!
Diddle-ing dong!

Conway, as wendell:
"did you hear that?
Tha-tha-that was the first bell.

We can still make it if we run!"

They ran until the jungle
gave way to the forest

And the forest became woods,

And then they scurried
up the hill to the school.

They flew through the door
of ms. Gernsblatt's room

And landed squishingly
in their seats

Just as the late bell rang,

Ring diddle ding dang
ding dong ding!

Conway, as ms. Gernsblatt:
"well! You made it...
And just in time.

"But how on earth did you get
so muddy just walking to school?

On second thought,
maybe you better not say."

During recess, wendell and floyd
sat in the sun

To give the mud a chance to dry.

"At least we finally got to
school on time," said wendell.

"That's the main thing,"
floyd agreed.

And in fact,
it was quite a while

Before they were late
to school again.

Even so, they never did find
a really good shortcut.

[Mountain goat bleats]

Wendell and floyd might have had
an easier time

If they had a better sense
of direction

Or at least knew some tips
on how to get around.

If you're not sure where you are
and you need to find your way,

It's good to be skilled
at something called
"orienteering,"

And chris cosone, here,
is an expert at that.

Hi, levar.
How you doing,
chris?

So, chris,
orienteering...
Hi, levar.

I love the word,
but what exactly
does it mean?

Well, orienteering
is a system of
finding your way.

Aha.
And if you have
the right tools,

Right.
A map
and a compass,

You'll never
get lost.

Really?
Yeah.

All right,
so...how does it work?

Well, first
you need a map.

Ok.
The map is the most
important tool.

And as you see
on this map,

Mm-hmm.
There's a lot
of colors.

Right.
Colors
are important.

We all know
what blue is.

That represents water?

Water.
Ok.

Big lake, streams
and marshes.
Mm-hmm.

And then
there's white--

White is a very
important color
for orienteers.

That's the color
of woods.
Ok.

But when the woods
get thick,

We put dark
colors of green.

Where the woods
get open,

Or mowed grass,
their colors
are yellow.
Ok.

And our most
important feature

Are these brown,
squiggly lines

We call
"contour lines."

And if you know how
to read them,

It makes the map
become 3-d.

Now, contour lines...
What do you mean?
What do they represent?

Well, they represent
equal points
of elevation.

So wherever
they're connected,

Ohhh.
It's the same height.

So where they're
close together,
it's very steep.

So that would be a hill.

Right,
that's a hill.

Where they're
far apart,
it's very flat--

I see.
A nice field.

And so, how does
the compass play into it?

Well, the compass
helps us figure out

Which way the map goes.

On the compass
is a magnetic needle...

Right.
Always pulling
towards north.

On the orienteering
map are magnetic
north lines.

This dotted black line here?

That's that.
Ok.

So, if we align
our red needle

With our magnetic north
line on the map...

Mm-hmm.

Go ahead, turn it,
go ahead.

Ahh...
Now your map...

Both: is oriented.

Oh, I get it.

And what do these
red circles represent?

Well, these
red circles

Are part of
the orienteering
game.

We hung flags
out in the woods

And wherever
there's a circle,
there's a flag.

Would you like
to try to find one?

Can i?
Yes, you can.

All right,
what do we do first?

Well, we know
we're here.

Uh-huh.
We want to go there.

Yes.
So, you have
to decide

What the best route
is for you,

Whether you want
to take the trail up

Or whether
you want to cut
through the woods.

Ok, well, here we go.

Ok.

Let me show you.
Ok.

The best thing to do
is to think of--

Think of a bird flying above
the park, ok?

If a bird was flying
above the park,

The park
wouldn't move.
Right.

So there's the park.
Yeah.

Let's be birds.
Ok.

We fly above
the park, right.

The park
isn't moving.

Ahhh, yeah.
The park
is not moving.

Now the trick is...
Yeah, ok.

To do the same thing,
but have it in your hand.

So the ground
doesn't move.

So, walk around
the map now.
Right.

See?
Right,
got you.

There.
Everything on
the ground stays...

There you go.
Stationary.

Ok. Feel good?
Got you, ok.

...be right over there.

Burton: hey, wow!
This is it, right?

Cosone: there's our flag.

Ha ha ha,
we found it.

Oh, yeah, but now you
have to punch, levar.

Oh, that's right.
Punch that card.

That's right.

Cosone: that proves
you got there.
Burton:
excellent.

You did great.
Cool.

I have some flags
I gotta set up.
I gotta go.

All righty,
bye-bye.
Take care.

Chris runs orienteering courses
in both the city and country,

And although this may
have seemed easy,

Try adding about
a dozen more flags,

A lot more people,

And a time you have to b*at.

Cosone: we're starting today
at the cherry hill fountain.

The course will go around
the lake, up into the ramble,

And back to
the cherry hill fountain.

We have 7 points--




The course is easy
and it's on trails,

But they do have
to make decisions--
it is challenging--

And it'll get a little
harder as they enter
deeper into the forest.

The object is to find all
the flags in the shortest time.

Children: yay!

Cosone: everybody gets a map,
everybody gets a compass.

Ok, take care of your map--

You're gonna need
your map all day.

Come on over here.
Stand right here
and face the lake.

Ok...

Welcome to central park.

You're holding in your hands

Our orienteering map
for today...ok?

And on it are--like
any orienteering map--
are a lot of colors.

Most of this map is blue.
You can see that big lake.

And we are at the lake.
Remember, we are at the--

At the start triangle
right here.

And you can see
the 7 flags are located

Wherever there's 7 circles,
and they're numbered.

And you can also see...

Basically our course
is around the lake.

If you keep the lake
next to you,

You should be able
to find all the flags.

Ok, first groups
up to the table.

Just put those
right there.
Man: ok, your
start time's gonna be 11:54.

Cosone:
ok, 10 seconds...

You gotta hold
your punch card,

You gotta hold that
little finish card,

You gotta hold your map,
you gotta hold your compass.

Man: 5 seconds...



Have a good time.

Narrator:
each team is made up of 3 kids

Who have to work together
to figure out which way to go.

We're right here.

Narrator: the kids have only
their maps and compasses
to stay oriented.

They must use them
or they could get lost...

And fall way behind.

The course is just under a mile

And will take about an hour
from start to finish.

Each team has to be alert
and constantly aware
of its surroundings.

Central park looks very
different in real life
than it does on paper.

Girl: here's the stream.

Boy: I think
the stream's over--
over there that way.

Let's go
over the bridge.

Girl: I see the flag!

Narrator: being able to compare
your surroundings to the map

Is the key to staying on course
and finding the flag.

Girl:
now we're gonna go, like--

I think we should
actually should go--

Yeah, that way.

'Cause it says, like,
to go that way.

Girl:
where's the next flag?

Children:
we can't tell you.

We tried to stick
to the lake, but it
didn't really work.

And with the bridges--
there's a whole bunch
of other bridges.

Narrator: if hp is needed,
chris is always nearby.

Cosone:
I'm gonna follow that last group
and shadow through there.

And a shadow is somebody
who follows behind the team

To make sure that
they're doing the right thing.

I feel like we're lost
'cause I said we should
go a different way

And those two guys
said, "let's go this way."

Cosone: hey, guys.

What's happening--
where are we?

I know where--
well, first thing,
what are we gonna do?

We gotta
orient our map.
Orient our map.

Where's the compass?

Put that compass on there--
turn it out...

Now, we were at 5.

Somehow I guess
you wandered out--

We're somewhere
down near the water.

If you look over there
you see the big fountain.

So we're right about here.

Which way is 6?
Point to 6.

If we're here,
where's 6?

Look,
follow the compass--

Which way's the compass
pointing?

Um, that way.

Yeah, 6 is up that way--
let's go.

Cosone:
number 6 is leading the kids
out of the ramble now

And bringing them along
the edge of the lake, back home.

You can do
the last, ok?

Narrator:
only one more flag to go.

With only a map and compass
to guide them,

Michael, tyler, and jenna
managed to complete the course

And head for the finish line.

[Children cheering]

Cosone:
they did great today.

Considering it was
a little cold--

Couple groups got turned around
inside the woods a bit--

But that's ok. They--
they were able to relocate

And find themselves
and find their way out.

They all had a great time.

Uh...

I'm proud of them--
I'm very proud of them

Because they used their map
and they used their compass

And they used their heads.

[Children cheering]

Heh heh! Knowing how to read
a map is great when you're
trying to find your way,

But sometimes it's helpful
to just get good directions.

Oh, hey, excuse me.

Hi.

Hi.
Yeah, I'm trying
to find the place

They call
nutter's battery.

Can you help me
get there?

Oh, sure, yeah.

You just go straight
down this path...

Oh.
Take your
first left...

Uh-huh.
Then your gonna
hit a fork...

Right.
Go right.

Ok.
And then go about


And you should
be there.

All right--
so it's just
down this path,

I take
my first left,

Mm-hmm.
And then I come
to a fork

And I turn...

Right.
Right.

And then
and I'm there.

Yeah.
Got it?
All right,
thanks.

Ok.

Heh heh! Now, that's what I call
terrific directions.

Nice and clear.

How about you--how would
you give directions to, say...

Your best friend's house?

You have to go up the hill,
down the hill

Then down another hill.

Turn left, turn right,
go straight.

Go that way and go this way
and go this way.

You go straight,
you make a left...

You gotta walk up
this hill...

Turn right,
you go back straight.

You get off at exit 4...

And then you keep going...

You make a left,
make a right...

Then there's
two blocks more...

You see
this red fire hydrant...

Down the block,
to the right...

Then you turn the corner...

And then on, um, this side,
that's the house

And then you just walk in.

Ha ha ha!
Now, those kids have what I call
a great sense of direction.

At times,
it may seem like central park
is laid out any which way,

But it was actually designed
with a real plan in mind.

The idea was to create a space
that people could enjoy

That would still feel as natural
and as wild as possible.

Now, parks aren't
the only settings that
are carefully designed.

In fact, I know a place that you
will really go ape over.

Narrator: this is
the peco primate reserve
at the philadelphia zoo.

This exhibit of
gorillas, orangutans,
and other primates is very new.

Years ago, the old exhibit
was destroyed in a fire.

And so andy baker, the curator--
or manager--of the reserve,

Led a team to rebuild it.

Baker: our primary interest
was in providing the best home
for the animals we could.

They don't really care
if the exhibit they live in
looks like a rainforest.

What they want
from their exhibit is
the opportunity to climb,

To jump, to play, to forage--
those types of things.

Narrator: the reserve was
also designed for visitors.

Lots of glass means kids,
and chimps,

Can get up-close and personal.

At the same time,
plenty of space

Gives the animals
some privacy, too.

Baker:
the animals can get up above
where they're gonna feel safe

And, yet, if they
want to come close--

Again, visitors can get
very close to the animals.

Narrator: becky calvanese
is a zookeeper here.

Her job is to feed
and care for the animals.

Calvanese: probably
the best thing about the way
primate reserve was designed

Is the height of the exhibits.

These are animals that--
all of them--

In some level,
live up in the trees.

And by having a tall exhibit,

That let's them use
their natural abilities
of climbing and jumping

And really gives them
a chance to get the full
extent of exercise.

They get to really use their
abilities as best they can,

And that allows them to be much
healthier and much stronger.

Boy:
he's hanging from the ceiling.

Calvanese: the height of
the exhibits also presents some
challenges for the keepers.

Those nice, high shelves
still have to be cleaned,

So we use a lot of ladders
and do a lot of climbing

In taking care
of our animals here.

Baker: when we started planning
this facility,

We thought about
a lot of things.

We have the animals
who live here--we had
to think about them.

We have the keepers
who work in the building--
we had to think about them.

And then, of course,
we have our visitors,
and we had to think about them.

Narrator: details like these
don't just happen by accident.

Everything begins
with an architect's plan.

Architects are the people
who figure out

How things should look
and where they should go.

The first step is to sketch
every room in the zoo.

These drawings are used
to create blueprints--

Special maps that show

Where every door, tree,
and window will go.

The blueprints contain
exact measurements,

Like how deep to dig,

How wide a room,

And how high the walls
should be.

Sometimes architects
even build a model

To show how a building
will look after it's done.

Baker:
it's very hard for most people

To look at
a two-dimensional drawing

And see exactly how it might
work as a building

When it's in 3 dimensions.

So the model let us pretend
we were walking through
the building,

See how things fit together--

What worked, what we thought
would be difficult--

And guided some
of the changes we made
during the design process.

Calvanese:
if you look at the exhibits,

They do have quite
a few windows,

And that actually allows
a lot of natural light
into the exhibit.

When we come in in the morning,
we turn on the lights,

But if you look
at a gorilla in the wild,

It's not like the sun
comes up in a heartbeat

And then it goes right down
at the end of the day--
it's very gradual.

By having a lot of windows
in the exhibit,

That allows them
to see the sun come up

And basically let the sunlight
slowly come into the room
in the morning

And slowly go out of it
at the end of the night,

Just like it would
if they were outside.

Baker: taking care of animals
is both an art and a science,

And one of the things
we've tried to do is make
the best use of the space--

Both from
the visitors' point of view

And the animals'
point of view.

I do have to say that I love
working here in primate reserve.

You get to learn a lot about
some amazing animals who can do
things that we really can't do

And to see them in an up-close
and personal way that you really
don't get to very often.

[Children squealing]

Uh-oh...
Ha ha! Here's the fork--

But I can't remember if she said
left or right.

Oh, well, I'll try this way.

If the idea of finding
your way has you looking
in a new direction,

Then here are 3 books that
will set you on the right path.

But you don't have to take
my word for it.

Hi, I'm emily.
Making maps is fun.

Want to learn how to do it?

Then you need this book called
mapping penny's world.

Lisa is the girl in the story.

Her teacher wants the class

To make a map.

Lisa makes a map of her bedroom.

The key shows
what the symbols
mean.

Lisa likes to make maps
of everything.

Her dog, penny,
likes to hide things, so...

She makes a treasure map.

Lisa and penny have lots of fun
with their maps.

Maybe they'll use a map
for a trip around the world.

Maps can take you anywhere,

And no matter where
you're going,

Don't forget this book,
mapping penny's world.

Mazes, mazes everywhere
and lots of fun for you--

Take your finger
through the book,

That's all you have to do

In this book called
pipsqueaks! Maze school.

For pipsqueaks,
everything is a maze.

They make mazes all day--

In the sandbox,

On the playground,

Even snacktime
turns into a maze.

It's fun to find your way
through a maze.

Turn left, turn right,

Go up, go down.

Mazes are like maps--
you have to find the right path.

I'm adam--
if you're looking for fun
and a book that's cool,

Go pick up this one,
pipsqueaks! Maze school.

Hi, my name is maxine.

I just read a really
interesting book called

How tall, how short,
how faraway.

Can you guess what it's about?

It's about
ways to measure things.

In ancient egypt, they had very
different ways of measuring.

A digit was the width
of one finger.

A palm was the width
of 4 fingers.

In ancient rome, they used
different kinds of measurements.

They measured longer distances
using paces.

This book is full of ideas
for things to measure--

Like a stick of celery...

Or your pet's tail.

This is a great book--

So if you want to
measure something,

Measure your paces down
to the local library
and check this book out:

How tall, how short,
how faraway.

Ha ha!
Hey, there are my friends.

You know wt?
This turned out
to be a great shortcut.

This is the fastest I've ever
made it across the park.

I'm gonna remember
this route.

If you get
good directions,

Follow a map,
and orient yourself,

I know you can make it
from point "a" to point "b"
no matter where you are.

Well, I've reached
my destination...

Now I hope you reach yours.

I'll see you next time.

Hey, you guys.

Burton: today's reading rainbow
books are...

The secret shortcut
by mark teague,

Published by scholastic press.

Mapping penny's world,
by loreen leedy,

Published by
henry holt & company.

Pipsqueaks! Maze school,
by patrick merrell,

Published by
scholastic, incorporated.

How tall, how short,
how faraway,

By david a. Adler,

Illustrated by nancy tobin,

Published by holiday house.