LEGO Friends: Dolphin Rescue (Chapter Book #5) Read online

  Dolphin

  Rescue

  Based

  on the

  hit movie!

  ScholaStic iNc.

  Adapted by Tracey West

  Dolphin Rescue

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded,

  decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information

  storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic

  or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written

  permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to

  Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway,

  New York, NY 10012.

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-76606-7

  LEGO, the LEGO logo and the Brick and Knob configurations are trademarks of

  the LEGO Group. ©2014 The LEGO Group. Produced by Scholastic Inc. under

  license from the LEGO Group.

  Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks

  and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First printing, August 2014

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: A Science Challenge .............4

  Chapter 2: Visit to the Vet ........................10

  Chapter 3: Look Out! .................................17

  Chapter 4: Dolphin Alert ..........................24

  Chapter 5: Getting Ready ........................31

  Chapter 6: All Aboard ..............................38

  Chapter 7: To the Rescue! ........................48

  Chapter 8: Dancing with Dolphins .........59

  Chapter 1:

  A Science

  Challenge

  “Yes, science class!” Andrea cheered as she and

  her friends walked into their classroom. “Do you

  know what this means?”

  “Yeah, we study science,” said red-haired Mia.

  “It’s my favorite class.”

  “Mine, too,” said Olivia. But her friends all

  knew that already. Olivia loved science so much

  that she had her own Invention Workshop.

  “Rephrase,” said Andrea. “It’salso our last class

  of the day, and that means we can head for the

  beach after this!”

  The five friends eagerly nodded. It was a bright

  and sunny afternoon. Hanging out at the beach

  after school sounded perfect!

  Stephanie whipped out her smartphone. “I think

  I can go. Just let me check my day planner,” she said.

  “Ooh, I have two free hours after school!”

  Emma smiled, her green eyes shining. “I have

  even more than that. I’m in!”

  “Hmm, if only there was a place for you girls to

  sit while I teach.”

  The five friends all stopped talking and turned

  around. Ms. Stevens, their science teacher, was at her

  desk looking at them through her glasses. The rest of

  the students were already seated and ready for class

  to begin.

  “Oh, how about our desks?” Emma said, quickly

  sliding into her seat. The other girls scrambled to do

  the same.

  Luckily, Ms. Stevens looked more amused than

  angry. “Wonderful idea, Emma,” she said. Then she

  stood to begin the day’s lesson. “Today we’re going

  to be talking about dolphins.”

  “Dolphins . . . ocean . . . beach!” Andrea swooned

  with a dreamy look

  in her green eyes.

  “Ooh, I can feel the

  sand between my toes

  already!”

  “Andrea, shhh!”

  Olivia warned.

  The teacher clicked a remote in her hand, and the

  lights in the room dimmed. An image of a dolphin

  popped up on a projector screen.

  “Dolphins are mammals,” she began. “Some

  dolphins live in the ocean, and some live in rivers.”

  The class listened quietly as Ms. Stevens

  continued her lesson. She talked about where

  dolphins lived, what they ate, and how they

  communicated.

  Near the end of the lesson, a photo of a fishing

  boat came up on the screen.

  “Now I want to talk about a threat to these

  amazing creatures called dolphin bycatch,” said

  Ms. Stevens. Another slide appeared. This one

  showed a fishing net in the water. Small fish were

  swimming into the open net—but there were

  dolphins swimming into it, too.

  “When fishermen drag their nets through the

  water—or trawl for fish—dolphins can sometimes

  get caught in the net,” Ms. Stevens explained.

  “This is a very dangerous situation. If the

  dolphins can’t get loose, they can drown.”

  She switched to another slide. It showed a

  dolphin tangled in the net. Without help, it

  couldn’t get loose!

  “Oh, no!” Mia gasped.

  “That’s awful,”said Emma.

  “What can they do to keep it from happening?”

  Stephanie asked urgently.

  “That’s an excellent question,” Ms. Stevens said.

  “And one that brings us to our science contest.”

  She clicked her remote again, and a new picture

  popped up on the screen. This one was a beautiful

  image of a dolphin leaping happily in the ocean.

  “The local fishermen are very eager to hear

  ideas to help them protect the dolphins. So

  they’re offering a contest. The student—or team

  of students—who creates the best idea to prevent

  dolphin bycatch will win a dolphin sightseeing trip!”

  All of the students began murmuring excitedly.

  “Cool contest!”

  “Awesome prize!”

  Everybody wanted to win!

  Just then, the bell rang. Ms. Stevens turned off

  the projector.

  “You’ll present your ideas tomorrow in class,” she

  said. “Good luck, everyone!”

  Chapter 2:

  Visit to the

  Vet

  The friends all gathered around Olivia’s desk as

  students began packing up their books. Each girl had

  an excited gleam in her eye. Of course, they all knew

  they would work together as a group.

  “A dolphin sightseeing cruise would be a really

  fun trip,” Emma said.

  “If we win,” Andrea pointed out.

  Olivia shook her head. “Win or not, the

  important thing is that we figure out a way to help.”

  Andrea sighed. “I know, you’re right. Still,

  though, it would be awesome if we won!”

  “Okay, girls,” Stephanie said, her voice taking on

  a confident it’s-time-to-get-organized tone. “We’ve

  sooooo got this.” Then, she realized that she didn’t

  have any ideas. “Uh . . . who’s got this?”

  Olivia looked thoughtful. “Maybe if the nets

  were made out of a different material, the dolphins
r />   could slip through them.”

  “Cool idea, Olivia!” said Andrea.

  “Dolphins also use echolocation to navigate,”

  Mia said, remembering the lesson. “Maybe there’s

  something there.”

  As the girls thought, the last student left the

  classroom. Emma glanced at the clock. “School’s out

  for today.”

  “Yeah, but I want to stay and work on the

  contest,” Mia said.

  “Me, too,” Olivia agreed.

  Andrea threw up her hands. “But the beach!

  The sand! It’s already between my toes!” She looked

  down at her feet. “Well, you know what I mean.”

  “Sorry, Andrea,” Olivia said.

  Stephanie smiled. “Girls, we should definitely

  go to the beach. Where better to get inspiration to

  save dolphins from bycatch?”

  “Good idea,” said Mia. “I just have to stop by

  the vet clinic to check on my animals first. Some

  of them are getting over injuries.”

  “That’s okay,” Emma said. “We’ll all go with you.

  Then, we can head to the beach together afterward.”

  Stephanie nodded. “To the beach, then!”

  They high-fived.

  Olivia’s Aunt Sophie ran the Heartlake Vet

  Clinic. All of the friends helped out there from

  time to time. But Mia had a special connection to

  the clinic—and to the animals there. She spent as

  much time helping Aunt Sophie as she could, and

  she knew every animal patient by name.

  When the girls arrived, Mia headed straight to

  a small, brown puppy named Molly. The little pup

  had hurt her front right paw.

  Mia gently picked Molly up and placed her

  on the exam table. She carefully changed the

  bandage. Molly tried to jump off the table, but

  Mia held her steady.

  “Careful, Molly, that leg hasn’t healed yet,” she

  warned. She placed Molly on a soft doggie bed.

  The puppy wagged her tail appreciatively.

  Around the room, her friends began helping

  the other animals. Stephanie put a carrot in a bowl

  and placed it in the pen of a fluffy white bunny.

  Mia saw what she was doing and ran over.

  “Those have to be cut in pieces,” she said.

  “Otherwise, they’ll be too big for her to eat.”

  “Oh, okay,” said Stephanie.

  Meanwhile, Andrea was eagerly shaking lots of

  birdseed into a parrot’s bowl.

  “That’s too much, Andrea!” Mia said, putting

  up a hand to stop her.

  Andrea stepped aside so Mia could take out

  some of the birdseed. “She sure is picky,” she

  whispered to Emma.

  Emma nodded. Both girls were thinking the

  same thing. Lately, Mia was acting like nobody

  could take care of the animals as well as she could.

  “It’s only because she loves the animals so

  much,” Emma whispered back. “She really worries

  about them!”

  Just then, Aunt Sophie walked in. “Thanks so

  much, girls. You’re doing a great job.”

  Aunt Sophie turned to Mia. “Now, remember,

  I’m out of town for the next few days. You’ll be

  here to lend an extra hand, right?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be here to take care of my little

  guys.” Mia nodded.

  Then she looked around. All the animals were

  clean and fed. Perfect!

  “Let’s sweep up,” Mia told her friends. “Then

  we can hit the road!”

  Chapter 3:

  Look Out!

  To get to the beach, the girls drove two buggies.

  They zipped over the sand dunes and between palm

  trees before coming to a stop near the snack stand.

  It was the perfect beach day. The sun shone brightly

  in the blue sky. Turquoise waves lapped against the

  shore. And a gentle breeze ruffled the leaves of the

  palm trees.

  “Woo-hoo!” the girls cheered as they

  unloaded a

  portable picnic table and chairs.

  “Emma, why don’t you go get us some snacks?”

  Stephanie suggested.

  “Sure thing!” Emma agreed.

  The friends quickly set up the table and chairs

  on the sand and sat down to start brainstorming.

  “I like your idea about the nets, Olivia,” Mia

  said. “But we should also think of how to keep the

  dolphins totally away from the fishermen’s boats.”

  “Good idea,” Olivia agreed. “But how?”

  As they were talking, Emma returned carrying

  a tray of five colorful frozen drinks.

  But before the friends could even reach for

  them, a loud beach-buggy horn blared.

  They looked up and gasped. Their friend,

  Jacob, was driving over the sand dunes—but he

  was out of control! The buggy zoomed left and

  right, skidding wildly across the sand. Then, it

  careened straight toward them!

  “Whoa, whoa—look out!” Jacob yelled, beeping

  the horn.

  The friends jumped out of the way just in time.

  BAM!

  Jacob crashed right into the table! The buggy

  tipped over into a ditch, flinging him from the

  driver’s seat. The vehicle finally came to a stop

  upside down, its wheels spinning.

  “Jacob!” Olivia cried. “Are you okay?”

  Jacob slowly sat up, rubbing his head. “Yeah, I’m

  all right. A turtle was crossing the road, and I had to

  swerve to keep from hitting him.”

  “I’m just glad nobody got hurt,” Mia said,

  breathing a sigh of relief. “Including the turtle.”

  “It’s a good thing you honked your horn,

  Jacob,” Stephanie said as she righted the picnic

  table. “It warned us just in time.”

  Mia put her hand on her chin. “A warning!”

  she said thoughtfully.

  Olivia knew just what she meant. “With

  sound! An alarm on the nets.”

  Emma got it, too. “That would warn the

  dolphins—”

  “Great idea!” Andrea interrupted, excited.

  “We could use underwater speakers.”

  “And we can call it Dolphin Alert!” suggested

  Stephanie.

  “Perfect!” said Olivia, clasping her hands

  together. “Jacob, thanks for the brilliant idea!”

  Jacob blushed a little. “You’re welcome,” he

  said. “What is it I did, again?”

  The girls laughed. Then they got down to

  business. Their design for the Dolphin Alert had

  to be done in time for tomorrow’s class!

  The next day, the girls had a free period before

  science class. So they met up in the art room to

  test their project one more time.

  Mia had borrowed a small fish tank from the

  Heartlake Pet Shop. They filled it with water.

  Then Olivia lowered an underwater speaker into

  the tank. Andrea pressed a button on her music

  player.

  The high-pitched cry of an orca whale came

  out of the speaker and floated out of the water.

  It was perfect! Dolphins were naturally afraid of

  orcas. If the noise played like this next to a fishing

  boat�
�s net, the dolphins wouldn’t go anywhere

  near it!

  Mia gave Olivia a thumbs-up and walked over

  to Stephanie and Emma. Emma was busy drawing

  on a sheet of paper with colored pencils.

  “How’s the poster going?” Mia asked.

  “It’s done!” Stephanie replied.

  Emma frowned. “No, not yet,” she said, rubbing

  the page with her eraser.

  Stephanie glanced anxiously at the clock. “Emma,

  it’s good enough,” she insisted.

  “Good enough is not . . . good enough!”

  Emma picked up a blue pencil and started

  shading. Then she stopped and looked carefully at

  the whole poster. “I want it to be . . . ahh . . . perfect!”

  She held up the poster so her friends could see.

  She had drawn a fishing boat with a Dolphin Alert

  speaker hanging beneath it. There were bright red

  sound lines coming from the speaker, and dolphins

  were swimming away from the lines.

  “It’s great!” said Mia.

  Then a bell rang through the halls.

  “That’s the warning bell,” Stephanie said. “Come

  on, or we’ll be late!”

  Chapter 4:

  Dolphin

  Alert

  The friends hurried to science class, eager to

  share their project.

  Ms. Stevens called on several students to

  present first, including a boy named Ben. He

  walked to the front of the class and propped up

  a poster showing an underwater traffic light.

  Dolphins and fish were swimming toward it from

  both sides.

  “You can put a traffic light in the fishing area,”

  Ben explained. “When the light turns red, the fish

  travel one way, and the dolphins travel the other

  way—away from the fisherman’s nets.”

  “Interesting idea, Ben,” said Ms. Stevens. “One

  question: How do the fish and dolphins know to

  follow the traffic lights?”

  Ben shrugged. “Uh . . . traffic school?”

  The class giggled, and Ben smiled sheepishly.