Conservation (10-Minute Mini)

We created our 10-Minute Minis to give teachers a fun, memorable, and time-efficient (ten minutes!) way to supplement or review a specific area of the curriculum. These shows are meant to be read aloud once, twice, or (at most) three times with different students reading different parts each time. No rehearsing; no memorizing; no costumes, sets, or audience. All the students have lines in every show, and each show has two songs that can be sung by all the students. These are NOT musical plays designed to be performed on a stage in front of an audience. We suppose it could be done that way, and it may even work pretty darn well. Teachers are a lot smarter than we are, and though we try our best to thwart your creativity, you usually outsmart us. Still, give the “reading aloud without rehearsal” system a shot. We think a show like our 10-Minute Conservation Mini will give you a lot of curricular bang for your ten-minute buck.

Conservation is the theme of this musical play. What can students do—and why should they bother—to reduce the consumption of energy? Particular emphasis is put on the little things that can be done to save electricity and water.

Key Concepts

The Conservation 10-Minute Mini refers to and reinforces students’ familiarity with the following ways to save energy and water:

Energy:
Keep the refrigerator door shut; turn down the hot water heater; only run the dishwater when it’s full; turn off lights and appliances when not in use; wash clothes in cool water; use weather stripping; switch to fluorescent lighting; plant shade trees.

Water:
Turn off the faucet when washing hands and the dishes, and when brushing teeth; take shorter showers with water-restrictive showerheads; fix leaks; water the lawn when it’s cool; compost instead of running the garbage disposal; don’t hose down the driveway.

Author: Ron Fink (Composer) and John Heath (Script and Lyrics)
© 2010 Bad Wolf Press, LLC

"The Conservation Mini was a big hit at my school! The students loved performing, and it was easy to put on. It was funny too! I love the 10-15 minute length and many characters."

---Kathy Kehr, Teacher (4th grade), Hyde Elementary, Wichita, KS

Characters

NARRATOR #1
NARRATOR #2
NARRATOR #3
MOTHER PIG
PJ PIG
PETUNIA PIG
STRAW CONTRACTOR
WOLF #1
PEGGY PIG
PETER PIG
STICK CONTRACTOR
WOLF #2
PAULO PIG
BRICK CONTRACTOR
WOLF #3

and a CHORUS composed of all students who are not playing roles
at the time.

Script

This is the first one-third of the script:

NARRATOR #1: Once upon a time there were three little pigs who lived in a
well-insulated home with their mother. It was not a big house, and Mother
Pig thought it was time her three children moved out.

NARRATOR #2: After all, they were not that little anymore. In fact, they had
all finished college and two of them were married.

NARRATOR #3: So one day Mother Pig had a talk with PJ Pig, the eldest of
the three not-so-little pigs.

MOTHER PIG: PJ, I think it’s time you and your wife built your own house.

PJ: Don’t be silly, Mother. I don’t have the slightest idea how to build a
house. I majored in Art History. Maybe I could draw you a picture of a
house.

MOTHER PIG: I’m not going to argue about this. I expect you to build an
environmentally friendly home with a low carbon footprint. Now scoot.

NARRATOR #1: So PJ Pig and his wife Petunia Pig packed some sandwiches and
went for a walk until they found themselves on a little hill.

PETUNIA: I think this would be a lovely place to raise a family.
PJ: I wasn’t kidding, Petunia. I can’t build a house. Do you think we can
learn to burrow?

PETUNIA: Burrowing is for rodents, PJ. And clams. I will not live like a
bivalve. I’ve called a contractor—Simply Straw Structures. Ah, here he is
now.

STRAW CONTRACTOR (entering with a wheelbarrow full of straw): If you folks
are looking to build a house, I’ve got just the right product.

PJ: Is that straw environmentally friendly?

STRAW CONTRACTOR: Are you kidding? I got this straw from the stable of an
old horse who doesn’t have any teeth. Never been touched—you can’t get more
natural than that.

PETUNIA: The house has to be energy efficient.

STRAW CONTRACTOR: You planning on keeping the fridge door open a lot?

PJ: No.

STRAW CONTRACTOR: Then you’re good to go.

PJ: That’s it?

STRAW CONTRACTOR: Sure. And keep the water heater and fridge turned down,
run the dishwasher only when it’s full, turn off the lights and appliances
when you’re not using them, wash your clothes in cool water, plant a few
shade trees, and use fluorescent lighting.

PETUNIA: Fluorescent lighting! Did you hear that PJ? I LOVE fluorescent
lighting. It uses one quarter the energy of the old incandescent bulbs and
last ten times as long. Think of all the carbon dioxide we’ll be reducing.

PJ: Yeah, but those bulbs are so expensive.

PETUNIA: We can save up to $42 in energy and replacement bulb costs each
year.

PJ: I don’t know…

Song 1 - Listen now!

PETUNIA (sings):

Change is hard
You can take it
Those old lights
Just don’t make it.
It’s time you bid those hundred watts farewell.

Grab that bulb
You can do it
Give a twist
Now unscrew it
And plug in this CFL.

PETUNIA and PJ:

Nothing says I love you like fluorescence
One bulb or ceiling track
I have said good-bye to incandescence
I’ve seen the light, I’m never going back.

This new bulb
Will keep going
Like our love
It’s still glowing
I chose a warm and lovely shade of white

Now it’s light
Now it’s sunny
Save the world
Save some money
Just like us this bulb is bright.

Nothing says I love you like fluorescence
One bulb or ceiling track
I have said good-bye to incandescence
I’ve seen the light, I’m never going back.

NARRATOR #1: So the Straw Contractor built a nice straw house for PJ and
Petunia Pig.

NARRATOR #2: They had lived there only a few short weeks when a Wolf
strolled up the path towards their home.

NARRATOR #3: Wolves and pigs do not have a completely happy history, so the
pigs quickly locked themselves inside their house.

WOLF #1 (knocking on the door): Hey pigs! I’d really like to come in and
look at your new straw house. Is this thing eco-friendly?

PJ (shouting through door): You don’t fool us. You want to eat us. We’ve
read the stories.

WOLF #1: I am not going to eat you. I was just hoping you were saving as
much energy as possible. Have you turned your refrigerator down?
Refrigerators use up to twenty percent of household electricity

PETUNIA: I keep telling PJ that.

WOLF #1: And how about weather stripping? Looks like you’ve got some real
weather issues here.

PJ: Of COURSE we have weather issues! The house is made of STRAW.

WOLF #1: Let me come in and see if we can insulate this thing a little
better. Are you using renewable resources like sunlight, wind, and water?

PETUNIA (to PJ): The wolf seems like he wants to help.

WOLF#1: Come on, listen to your wife. This house is an environmental
nightmare—you need to start over. Little pig, little pig, let me come in!

PJ: Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin!

WOLF #1: Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in.

NARRATOR #1: And he did. The wolf huffed and puffed and then the entire
house collapsed.

NARRATOR #2: Fortunately the house was made of straw so no one even got a
scratch.

(This concludes the first one-third of the script.)

Sample Songs

Click on the song name to hear samples. Please note that internet song samples have low fidelity and rest assured that the CDs we sell sound much better! (This player requires Flash. If you have any trouble hearing the samples, just contact us for help.)

Full Song List

1. Nothing Says I Love You Like Fluorescence
2. I'm Saving Water
3. Save a Little

Common Core and Other National Standards

Science

• National Science Content Standard F for K-4th, F for 5th-8th

Language Arts

• Common Core Reading Standards for Literature: 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th
• Common Core Reading Standards: Foundational Skills:
  • 3rd, 4th, 5th: Phonics and Word Recognition, Fluency
• Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards: Comprehension and Collaboration - 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th
• Common Core Language Standards: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use -3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th
• Common Core Standard 10: Range, Quality & Complexity:
  • Range of Text Types for K-5th
  • Range of Text Types for 6th-12th

History/Social Studies

• National Social Studies Standards 3 and 7

Fine Arts

• National Music Standards 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8 for K-4th, Standard 1 for 5th-8th
• National Theater Standards 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8 for K-4th, Standards 2 and 6 for 5th-8th
• National Dance Standards 1 and 2 for K-4th

Vocabulary

Conservation Vocabulary

insulation
carbon footprint
energy efficient
fluorescent
incandescent
carbon dioxide
CFL
eco-friendly
renewable resources
non-renewable resources
drought-resistant
solar panels

General Vocabulary

scoot
burrow
bivalve
ceiling track
Boeing 767
incompetent
litter
summon

Phrases

good to go
see the light
when pigs can fly