astronomy

The Magic School Bus (book series)

The Magic School Bus (book series) is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Magic School Bus (book series) rather than just read about it. In short: The Magic School Bus is a series of children's books about science, written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen. Designed for ages 6-9, they feature the antics of Ms.

Key takeaways

The Magic School Bus (book series) belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Magic School Bus (book series) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Magic School Bus (book series) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Magic School Bus is a series of children's books about science, written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen. Designed for ages 6-9, they feature the antics of Ms. Valerie Felicity Frizzle and her class, who board a sentient anthropomorphic mini school bus which takes them on field trips to impossible locations, including the Solar System, clouds, the past, and the human body. The books are written in the first person from the point of view of an unspecified student in "the Friz's" class. The class has a pet lizard named Liz, who accompanies the class on their field trips. Since the Magic School Bus books present scientific facts in the form of stories in which fantastic things happen (for example, the bus turns into a spaceship, or children shrink to the size of blood cells), each book has a page at the end detailing in a humorous manner which parts of the book represented scientific fact and which were fanciful storytelling.

History Craig Walker, vice-president and senior editorial director at Scholastic Co., stated that the concept began with the idea of combining science with fictional stories, and Joanna Cole (who had written both science and humor before) and Bruce Degen were then approached with creating such a series. Walker also states that his own memories of school field trips and of a teacher he had once, served as further inspiration. The first book "At the Waterworks" was written in 1985 and published the following year. Cole and Degen started a new series called Ms. Frizzle's Adventures in 2001, which teaches social studies. In those books, Ms. Frizzle travels through time via a special watch. There are now three books in that series. Microsoft Home started publishing Magic School Bus software in 1994. TW Kids published four audio cassettes/activity book "Fun-Kits" in 1994 and 1995, these audio cassettes use audio from the TV Series. Scholastic has also published the original series books as read-along book-on-tapes and book-on-CDs. Scholastic Entertainment, the American Meteorological Society and the Children's Museum of Houston created a Scholastics the Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm, a 2,600 sq ft (240 m2) traveling exhibit funded in part by the National Science Foundation, which premiered at the Children's Museum of Houston in 2003 (a copy of it opened in New Jersey the month after that).

Characters In the original series books, Ms. Frizzle's class had a larger number of multiethnic students and consisted of Alex, Amanda Jane, Arnold, Carlos, Carmen, Dorothy Ann, Florrie, Gregory, John, Keesha, Michael, Molly, Phil, Phoebe, Rachel, Ralph (changed to "Ralphie" on the show and later books in this series), Shirley, Tim and Wanda (19 students). Phoebe was first introduced in the 1987 book, The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth. Carlos and Keesha were added in the 1994 book, The Magic School Bus In the Time of Dinosaurs. In the other books and merchandise --including the TV series and TV tie-in books-- Ms. Frizzle's class was whittled down to eight kids (Arnold, Carlos, Dorothy Ann, Keesha, Phoebe, Ralphie, Tim and Wanda; Jyoti is an original character who replaces Phoebe in The Magic School Bus Rides Again).

List of books and merchandise

Original series books The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks (1986) The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth (1987) The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body (1989) The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System (1990) The Magic School Bus On the Ocean Floor (1992) The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs (1994) The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane (1995) The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive (1996) The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip (1997) The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses (1999) The Magic School Bus and the Science Fair Expedition (2006) (released as part of a 20th anniversary celebration of the series as a whole) The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge (2010) The Magic School Bus Explores Human Evolution (2020)

Chapter books The Truth about Bats (1999) by Eva Moore The Search for the Missing Bones (1999) by Eva Moore The Wild Whale Watch (2000) by Eva Moore Space Explorers (2000) by Eva Moore Twister Trouble (2000) by Ann Schreiber The Giant Germ (2000) by Anne Capeci The Great Shark Escape (2000) by Jennifer Johnston Penguin Puzzle (2001) by Judith Bauer Stamper Dinosaur Detectives (2001) by Judith Bauer Stamper Expedition Down Under (2001) by Rebecca Carmi Insect Invaders (2001) by Anne Capeci Amazing Magnetism (2001) by Rebecca Carmi Polar Bear Patrol (2002) by Judith Bauer Stamper Electric Storm (2002) by Anne Capeci Voyage to the Volcano (2003) by Judith Bauer Stamper Butterfly Battle (2003) by Nancy White Food Chain Frenzy (2003) by Anne Capeci The Fishy Field Trip (2004) by Martin Schwabacher Color Day Relay (2004) by Gail Herman Rocky Road Trip (2004) by Judith Bauer Stamper

Scholastic Reader Level 2 The Magic School Bus Has A Heart The Magic School Bus Gets Caught In a Web The Magic School Bus Gets Recycled The Magic School Bus And the Missing Tooth The Magic School Bus Fights Germs The Magic School Bus Gets Crabby The Magic School Bus Explores the World of Bugs The Magic School Bus Weathers the Storm The Magic School Bus At the First Thanksgiving The Magic School Bus Arctic Adventure The Magic School Bus Lost in Snow The Magic School Bus and the Shark Adventure The Magic School Bus Builds the Statue of Liberty The Magic School Bus in a Bat Cave The Magic School Bus Comes to Its Senses The Magic School Bus and the Wild Leaf Ride The Magic School Bus and the Butterfly Bunch The Magic School Bus Inside a Volcano The Magic School Bus Rides the Wind The Magic School Bus in the Rain Forest The Magic School Bus Sleeps for the Winter The Magic School Bus Explores the World of Animals The Magic School Bus to the Rescue: Blizzard The Magic School Bus to the Rescue: Forest Fire The Magic School Bus to the Rescue: Earthquake The Magic School Bus to the Rescue: Flash Flood The Magic School Bus Inside Your Mouth The Magic School Bus Explores the Ocean The Magic School Bus Flies with Dinosaurs The Magic School Bus Takes a Moonwalk The Magic School Bus Flies From the Nest The Magic School Bus Blasts Into Space The Magic School Bus Gets Cleaned Up

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Magic School Bus (book series)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Magic School Bus (book series) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Magic School Bus (book series) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Magic School Bus (book series) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Magic School Bus (book series)

In research: The Magic School Bus (book series) appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Magic School Bus (book series) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Magic School Bus (book series) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Book series introduced in 1986, Children's book series, Early childhood education materials, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Magic School Bus (book series) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Magic School Bus (book series) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Magic School Bus (book series) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Magic School Bus (book series) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Magic School Bus (book series) in simple terms?

The Magic School Bus is a series of children's books about science, written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen. Designed for ages 6-9, they feature the antics of Ms.

Why does The Magic School Bus (book series) matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Magic School Bus (book series)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Magic School Bus (book series).