Once upon a time, Zack and Rex were playing a fun game of hide and seek in the forest. Zack was really good at hiding, and Rex wanted to get better at it too!
Zack hid behind a big rock, and Rex couldn’t find him at first. Zack said, “It’s easy if you find a good hiding spot!” Rex decided to try again and find a better spot.
Rex thought of using sticks to hide, but Zack could still see his bright yellow color. Then, Rex tried using leaves, but the wind blew them away!
Finally, Rex had a great idea! He covered himself with mud, which helped him blend in with the plants. Zack couldn’t find him at all!
Zack said, “Wow, Rex, that’s an amazing disguise!” Rex was so happy to be the hide-and-seek champion!
Later, Zack and his friends were racing on a trail, but leaves kept blowing onto it, making it hard to race. They needed to find a way to keep the trail clear.
They tried building a wall with rocks, but it was too slow. Then, they used tree bark, but it blew over in the wind.
Finally, they discovered that sticks worked perfectly! The wind could blow through the sticks, but the leaves couldn’t. The trail was clear, and they could race again!
On a rainy day, Zack and his friends found a big puddle. They wanted to get rid of it so they could play without getting too wet.
They tried covering the puddle, but it didn’t work. Then, they realized the rainwater was coming from the hill. They needed to find a way to drain it away.
Finally, they decided to move their construction site to a drier spot. It was a great idea, and they could play without the puddle getting in the way!
And that’s how Zack and his friends had a fun day of playing and solving problems together!
Hide and Seek Exploration: Let’s play a game of hide and seek! Find a spot in the classroom or playground where you can hide. Think about what makes a good hiding spot. Is it a place where you blend in, like Rex with the mud? After the game, talk about what made your hiding spot good or what could have made it better.
Nature’s Disguise: Go on a nature walk and collect different natural items like leaves, sticks, and rocks. Try to create a disguise for a small toy or object using these items. Can you make it hard for others to find your toy? Discuss how animals in nature use camouflage to hide from predators.
Problem Solving with Zack: Imagine you are Zack and his friends trying to clear the trail. Use small objects like blocks or sticks to build a barrier that can stop leaves from blowing onto a path. Experiment with different designs and see which one works best. Talk about why some designs might be better than others.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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[Music]
Go away!
I don’t know how you do it, Zack.
I’m just good at hide and seek, I guess.
Oh, I love hide and seek, but I sure wish I was better at hiding.
Well, just keep practicing, buddy. Do you want to be it this time?
Oh, okay! You go hide, and I’ll count to ten.
Huh, okay. One, two, three, four, five…
Let’s see… um, maybe I can get this… oh, this is great! I’ll get a hide!
[Music]
[Laughter]
Are you over here, Zack?
Okay, I give up! I’m right here!
What? The whole time? I can’t believe it!
Yeah, I was just behind this rock.
Wow, you’re really good at hiding!
Oh, it’s easy if you find a good hiding spot.
You want to try again?
Oh, okay, great!
Uh, I’ll go over to the tree and start counting. I’m pretty sure I can get a good spot this time.
Zack, I’m gonna count now. You ready? One, two, three, four…
Okay, I’m gonna get in here. You’ll never find me!
Are you not here? Here I come!
I’m gonna find you!
I found you!
Oh, what? Oh, I can’t believe you found me so quickly!
Couldn’t you find a good hiding spot?
That was my hiding spot!
Oh, well, I can still see you; your yellow paint job was sticking out behind the rock there.
No, I guess…
Hey, this time I’m gonna get a disguise so you won’t even recognize me!
Oh, good idea, Rex!
Okay, okay, I’m gonna go look around and see what I can find.
Oh, I love disguises! Can I come too?
Uh-uh, no way! It has to be a secret.
Oh, right, gotcha! Okay, I’ll be right here just looking at this rock.
Look at this! It’s a neat rock; it just sort of looks like that.
Uh, okay, let’s see… this rock… uh, no.
Hey, wait a minute! I could cover myself with sticks!
Oh, this’ll work for sure!
Nine, ten, ready or not, here I come!
I’ve gotta find you because I’m the best hiding stick player in the whole forest, and I can perfect this disguise!
Uh, Rex?
What?
I can see you, Rex!
You can? I thought the disguise was perfect!
Well, I can still see a lot of yellow; those sticks don’t cover you that well.
Oh, I guess I’ve got to make sure I’m completely covered.
Oh, okay, Zack, you know what? Let’s try again.
Okay, Rex, you want me to go count again?
Yep!
Okay!
Okay, let’s see… what should I… uh, hey, look at all the leaves!
Oh, wait! Leaves will cover me completely! They’ll cover all my yellow! That’s perfect!
[Music]
Eight, nine, ten, ready or not, here I come!
I’ve gotta find you because I’m the best finder in the forest!
Nice try, Rex, you almost had me there!
It’s about half your disguise blew away.
Well, it was good for a minute until the wind decided to blow!
I know I can find a disguise that will make you give up, Zack! I can! I just need to find something that will cover all of me and stay that way.
Well, there’s only one thing to do, right?
Right!
You want me to count again?
Yeah, you count, and I’ll go look!
Okay, here I go!
I love mud, but this is not the time to play in the mud! I’ve got to find a…
Hey, wait a minute! That’s it! Mud! I can cover myself with mud! It will cover all my shiny yellow paint!
Just do a little bit of this, a little bit of that… oh, this is gonna be great!
Here I come!
I’m gonna find you, Rex, because I am the best finder, and you can’t hide from me, Rex, because I am so good at finding!
Wow, you really got a good disguise this time, Rex!
Haha, I see you!
Oh no, those are just yellow leaves! I thought that was you for sure!
I don’t know, Rex…
Uh, I give up! Come on, come out wherever you are!
[Music]
Wow, Rex, that’s an amazing disguise!
It is, isn’t it?
Uh, you couldn’t find me because I was camouflaged! The mud helped me blend in with the plants!
I now declare you, Rex, the official hide-and-seek champion of Zerbyland!
Oh, right!
So what do you want to do now? You want me to find you?
No, I think we should try to find Walter.
Walter? What for?
So he can wash all that mud off you!
Okay, good idea! Come on, let’s go this way!
I can’t believe you couldn’t find me!
I couldn’t! I could not see you at all! Did you let me win?
No, I didn’t! I could not see you! You were amazing!
‘Cause you’re such a good finder!
Well, you’re a good hider!
Now I hope Walter uses warm water this time!
Oh yeah, it can get chilly!
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
What are you counting, Axel?
The number of races I beat you in!
Oh yeah, okay!
Coming through!
Now look at me! I caught you!
I caught you!
Hey, no fair! Somebody leafy trapped this trail!
Yeah, where did all these leaves come from anyway?
I don’t know, but they sure ruined our race!
Yeah, we should move them so the other Zerbies don’t, you know, run into them.
Oh, that’s a good idea, Zack! Okay, come on!
Uh, there we go! It’s working!
Oh, one, two, three, four… now what are you counting?
Uh, all the leaves we left behind.
Just leave them for now!
Get it? Leaf?
Oh yeah, that’s funny!
It does look like there’s more leaves here now!
You counted four leaves before, right?
Um, yeah.
How many are there now?
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…
Uh, ten… uh, a million… uh, I don’t know! There’s a lot! They keep blowing in and piling up here at this turn!
Well, we can’t keep moving piles of leaves all day! I wanna get racing!
Well, we could just let them pile up again!
No, wait! I wanna go fast, and driving in those leaves slowed me right down!
Okay, then we need to find a way to keep the turn clear of leaves!
Right! Let’s do it!
[Music]
Hmm, it looks like the leaves are blowing in from this direction.
Let me see… let me see…
Oh, I see!
Oh, I can’t see!
I can’t!
That’s because you have a leaf covering your eye!
Oh!
Well, we need a wall or something here to block all these leaves!
Yeah, this is gonna be a big job!
Oh, that’s okay! We can call in the construction Zerbies!
Perfect!
Yeah, that should do it!
Wow, that’s great work!
All right, guys! My pleasure!
No problem!
I can’t wait to see how this works!
This wall will stop the leaves from blowing onto the trail!
Hey, hey! They’re blowing it over here at the end of the wall!
Oh yeah, you’re right!
Uh, can we make the wall bigger?
I don’t know! Building a wall out of rocks is a pretty slow job!
We have to build it all the way down the trail, much longer than it is now!
And we have to go all the way to the lake to get more rocks!
Looks like we’ll have to try, try again!
Maybe rocks aren’t the way to build this wall!
Keep pushing!
Okay, there! The leaves are cleaned up until they blow in again!
Let’s find something else to build this wall out of!
Like what?
Maybe you should look around and see what you can find!
Answers are everywhere!
Oh yeah!
Good! Thank you! Good idea!
All right, we’ll take the wall down!
Looking around for answers… I wonder what I’m gonna use!
There’s nothing over here!
Oh, what about this tree?
Uh, it’s probably not gonna move!
Everywhere!
And I’m gonna go find something ’cause we need to find something that we can use!
Yeah!
Oh!
Hey, Zack! I think I found something we could use!
Huh?
Oh, it looks like tree bark! It must have fallen off one of the trees!
Yeah, and there’s a lot of it too! So let’s try making a new wall out of this bark!
Here’s another piece, Rex!
Is it working?
Whoa! Nice job, construction Zerbies! This wall is perfect!
Well, that’s what we do best—building things!
There’s nothing I’d rather do!
Building a wall at a park is easy! We can make it as long as you like!
Well, do you think it’ll work?
Hmm, well, I think so!
Oh, look! Here comes a gust now!
Yay!
Oh, hey! What happened?
The bark blew over!
Maybe the bark is too light!
Well, we’ll just have to try, try again!
All right, we need something that can go all the way along the trail and catch the leaves, but not something that will get blown over in the wind!
We’ll take this wall down while you look!
Uh, do you have any idea, Zack?
Uh, yeah! Follow that leaf!
Oh, now that is more like it! Let’s go!
There it goes! There it goes! Go get it! Go get it!
Going around the corner there!
Yeah, there it is!
Yeah, that was fun!
Uh, so what’s your idea, Zack?
Well, I just thought we’d chase after the leaf and see what it got stuck on!
And look! It got stuck between those two sticks!
Uh-huh!
So maybe we should make the wall out of sticks!
You see, the wind blows right through them, but the leaves can’t! It’s perfect!
Oh yeah! Come on, let’s go tell the construction Zerbies!
Hey, I think we found the answer!
Yeah, it’s sticks!
Okay, I’ll take the rest of the bark down!
I’ll go help get some sticks!
Come on!
So, uh, where are we going to find some sticks?
Well, this is Derby Town Forest! Sticks are everywhere!
Hey, I’ll go grab my trailer!
All right!
Okay, here’s the first load!
Dumping!
Yes! Move ahead, Rex!
Yes, these sticks will do nicely!
All right, let me tie these ones together a little bit here… there we go!
Where?
Well, that’s the start!
Looking good!
Almost done!
This is the last section!
Looks good to me!
Hey, how’s it look out at that end?
You’re perfect! Great!
It’s really, really great!
Oh, here comes the gust now!
Yay!
Oh, oh no!
Don’t tell me there’s more leaves piling up here!
Nope! Just counting how many times I’m gonna beat you racing on this trail!
What?
Not if I can help it!
Ready, set, turbo!
Yeah!
Whoa! Whoa! Axel, hold on!
Wait! I’m ahead!
I’m ahead!
I have no idea!
[Music]
This is great!
I literally saw a squirrel!
Where?
Right there! He just crossed in front of me! Did you see him?
No, I didn’t see him!
It was a squirrel!
Oh, I didn’t see him!
I love the rain!
Me too!
What else can we do in the rain that we can’t do in the dry?
Well, we can splash through this puddle!
Oh, wait!
Oh yeah, look at the size of this one!
There’s a big funnel!
That is big!
That is big!
Let me try!
Okay, okay! Watch me!
Down!
Okay, I’ll push you!
Thank you!
Hold on!
Thank you!
Again!
There you go!
Okay, now what are we going to do?
A little bit!
Oh, you’re over!
I’m upside down!
Oh, wait a minute! Let me give you a hand!
I got you!
Push me!
Okay, good!
All right, let’s go!
Hi, Lily!
Hi, Zack!
Pretty rainy today, isn’t it?
Yeah!
What do you like about all this rain?
I don’t mind it for me, but I don’t like it for construction work!
Oh, why’s that?
It makes the dirt too gloopy!
Gloopy? Is that a new word?
Yeah! Gloopy!
Look! Bloopy!
Oh yeah! Gloopy seems to me there’s too much water in there!
You’re right, Lily! Water’s a problem for us right now!
I can’t see what I’m scooping!
Well, if you have a problem, then Lily and I can help you find an answer, right?
Are you gonna help us get rid of the puddle?
Well, let’s see… hmm…
Seems that the rain is filling up this puddle, so if we put a cover over it, maybe it will stop doing that!
[Applause]
Okay, what are we building?
We’re going to build a cover to keep out the rain!
Oh, great! Let’s get to work!
Uh-huh!
Okay, there’s a tree right there!
Just let me get my hook onto it, then…
Okay, here we go!
And now I’ll start to pull it down this way!
Here we go!
[Music]
Hmm…
Uh, I can’t see the water going away yet! Can you, Rex?
Hmm, not yet!
Maybe we just have to build in half a wheel of water!
Uh, Zack, the cover doesn’t seem to work!
No, Rex! The cover works because it’s keeping the rain off!
It says that the puddle isn’t going away!
Well, do you think it will go away, Zack?
I don’t know!
Well, when the rain stops, it does!
I know, ’cause the puddle’s only here when it’s raining!
So we didn’t solve our problem!
We didn’t get rid of the puddle!
Well, if we didn’t get the answer right away, we just have to try, try again!
That’s right! We’re Zerbies!
Maybe the falling rain in the puddle isn’t the problem!
What do you mean, Lily?
Look! There’s rainwater trickling down the hill into the puddle! See?
Oh, look! She’s right!
Where’s it coming from?
It seems to be coming in from… well, everywhere!
So that’s the problem now!
Okay, so how do we stop that water coming in?
We can’t, but we can drain it out!
Maybe we could dig a channel!
Oh, great idea, Zack! Leave it to me and Sandy!
We can do it!
Yeah, we can do it!
All right!
Whoa!
Great job!
Thank you!
Thanks!
Uh, hey!
Uh, I don’t see the water going away yet! Can you, Sandy?
Not yet!
Uh, maybe we put the channel in the wrong place!
Oh, good thinking, Rex!
Oh, okay! We’ll take it again!
All right, let’s do it!
Uh, I don’t see the water going away yet! Can you, Rex?
Uh, nope! Not yet!
Oh, I’ve got it!
You do?
Yeah!
Huh? What have you got, Zack?
Don’t you see? The rainwater is trickling down the hill and into the puddle!
Water always goes downhill!
Oh!
Oh yeah, it does!
The first two channels didn’t lead the water down!
We have to try, try again and find the place where the water’s going out of the puddle!
Oh, okay! Let’s all look!
Not here!
Nope, not here either!
Hmm… nope, not here either!
Hey, water is coming in from everywhere!
Uh, Zack, there doesn’t seem to be anywhere downhill from here!
The puddle is at the very bottom of the hill!
So we can’t drain the water away!
Oh, well, I guess we’ll just have to work in half a wheel of water!
Yeah, even if it is all gloopy!
Now hold on, everyone!
Where’s the Zerbies?
We try, try again!
There must be an answer to this problem!
Answers are everywhere!
Exactly! Let’s all split up and look for it!
Okay!
Let me see here… what?
Maybe this rock or moss?
No, that’s not gonna work!
Uh, leaves?
No!
[Music]
Hey, guys! I haven’t found anything yet!
What are you looking at?
Oh, we’re just looking at the puddle!
Too bad it was at the bottom of the hill!
That’s why all the rainwater is draining into it!
So why did you decide to start building there anyway?
It was just a nice open space like this before it started raining!
So did you find anything yet?
No, I looked and I couldn’t find anything to move the water!
Oh, so if you can’t move the water, why not move the construction site?
Hey, that’s the answer! Brilliant!
Yeah, but