Can you believe that Fixies are Such itty-bitty creatures?
Even when they’re magnified It’s hard to see their features.
They’re tiny, infinitesimal, So small it makes you doubt.
But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don’t let their secret out!
The Level
TomThomas,
I’m really sorry.
The movie this weekend… I have to cancel.
You do?
I need to go to Africa for work.
I leave tomorrow.
Oh, cool! You think I could go with you?
To Africa?
Can you even find it on the map?
Africa...
Here we go!
No, you’re still too little.
When you grow as tall as…
the top of Africa! Then I’ll take you with me.
Here. There.
Tom Thomas!
What are you doing down there?
I want to know if I'm as tall as the top of Africa or not.
Well, do you know your height?
Eh-uh.
OK, then let’s measure you and mark how tall you are.
You just need to hold the book, alright?
Simka, how do we measure what's higher –
the top of Africa or this line over here?
It’s a tough one.
We need a piece of flexible clear tubing.
I can get for you!
I know where it is!
And we'll build a simple tool to find out the answer.
It's called a water level.
Let’s do an experiment.
First we'll pour water into two bottles.
A little bit more into one and a little less into the other.
Now we’ll connect them with a tube so that the water can flow between them.
You see?
The water flows and flows,
and then it stops.
It stops when there’s the same amount of water inside of both bottles.
And if we do this with a simple tube,
it becomes a useful tool called a water level,
in which the water on both sides is always the same height.
I'm gonna watch the water level on this end, alright?
Be careful how you lift it or the water can get out!
Nolik! What's going on?
The water inside the tube is even with the line!
There you go, Tom Thomas.
Where the water is right now is how tall you are.
And?
Well, it looks like Tom Thomas isn't quite tall enough for Africa.
What if we hold the tube a little higher?
You can try if you want but the water's gonna stay where it is.
See? The water level on your side always stays the same as on the other side.
I'm not getting that tall for a while yet.
And what if we just lower the map a little?
That wouldn't be honest!
But it would be clever!
There are a lot of great proverbs,
but my favorite one is, "Measure twice, cut once."
And to measure things right you need measuring tools.
The simplest one is a ruler.
With its help we can find out the length of an object.
A watch can tell us how much time has passed.
A speedometer shows us how fast we are moving,
like in a car or on a bike.
An electric meter keeps track of how much electricity we are using.
A decibel meter can tell us who is screaming or stomping louder.
And a beam compass is used to accurately measure the size of a coin or a hole.
We couldn’t get by without wonderful tools like these!
If we didn't measure the things we are building carefully,
everything around us would just come loose and fall apart.
Dad!
Dad!!
Look, Dad!
That’s strange. Looks like you ARE a little taller.
Does that mean you'll take me with you?
Yeah...
Are you ready?
Yay!!!!!
But everyone who goes to Africa has to get vaccinated.
You're OK with that, aren't you?
I need vaccinations to go?
Are you sure?
Yeah. There's one against malaria,
tsetse fly,
crocodile bites…
All together there are ten shots.
Ten shots?!
Yeah, ten!
Dad, you know...
I was joking.
After you left the room, I moved the map down.
OK, I see.
And I was joking about all those shots you need.
What?
You mean you don't need to get shots?
You've got to, just not ten.
So how many?
Nine of them!
There's no vaccination anywhere
to stop a crocodile from biting you!
Fixies have a special sign I happened to discover.
They hold three fingers in the air And flash it to each other.
They send their greetings to you, They sing them and they shout,
But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don't let their secret out!
The Camera
Stop right there,
and let me see how pretty you look today.
Well, just don’t tell that to the elevator.
Bye-bye!
Check it out, Nolik!
Class, huh?
You're not going to get in trouble for doing that?
No.
My dad gave me permission to take a few pictures with his camera.
No, I mean the picture.
You sure that your mom and dad will like that you took it without asking for permission?
But look, what a good picture!
You know what, Tom Thomas? You’re like a regular paparazzi or something!
Paparazzi?
They're the ones that take one photo and get millions, aren't they?
You're right.
And don't care about anyone except their photoapparazzis!
Did you ever wonder how a photo camera works?
Let’s say you want o take a picture of nature.
The light that's outside goes into the camera's lens -
that's the glass eye on the front of the camera.
The lens takes the light from the scene outside the camera
and turns it into a tiny picture that's inside the camera.
Then the picture is recorded onto a special electronic sensor,
called a matrix, that's sensitive to light.
Click – and there's your photo!
What a great idea! Now I know!
I’m going to be a paparazzi!
Hey! What about your promise?!
What promise?
To never take a picture of us!
We’re a secret! Stop!
Hey, relax! I'll delete them all later.
Tom Thomas, stop this right now!
I won't until I get a photo of you!
Nolik, let’s run!
You can't run from me!
Chewsocka?!
Ah-huh! I’ve got you!
The story of the century!
The Monster and its Prey!
Tom Thomas!
Help!
No, he won’t help,
because he’s a paparazzi!
Yes!
I got it!
That’s my best photo yet!
What’s all this noise about?!
Awesome shot!
The first cameras were invented almost 200 years ago.
But they worked very slowly.
If you wanted to have your portrait taken,
you'd have to sit still for a whole hour!
After film was invented cameras got much faster
and it became possible to take about ten pictures a minute.
On a piece of film everything appears to be backwards.
black parts of the picture are white and the white is black.
It doesn't look normal until the picture
is transferred from the film to a piece of photographic paper.
Now people shoot pictures with digital cameras
that work without any film at all.
You can look at what you shot instantly on a screen to see if you like it.
And if you don’t like it, you can try shooting another one.
And today you don't even need a separate camera to take pictures,
almost every mobile phone has one!
Simka, Nolik, are you in there?!
Hey!
Come out!
I’ll stop shooting photos of you.
Aren't we friends?
I'm sorry, guys.
Well, your friends were almost eaten alive by a dog!
Please forgive me.
Do you want to look at the photos I took?
Sure, go on, show us what you got.
We’re not in that shot.
We're not there either!
Well done there, Paparazzi!
Hang on a sec!
I still got another one and you're in it.
I know for sure!
Look!
I'f zooming in.
It's impossible!
- I don't believe it! - It's possible.
But when did you have time to turn into screws?
The same time you were pushing the button.
When we're scared we can change faster than the blink of an eye!
You lost,
paparazzi!
And what are you going to do with your millions, Mr. Paparazzi?
Would you please stop calling me that?
You got it. After every one of those photos is thrown away.
Alright, I’ll delete them.
And do I have to delete this one too?
No, keep it. It's a great shot.
I never even saw you take it.