The Magic School Bus

YMA recommendation

	Approved as non-violent media, with caution. Accidental harm
Most suitable age range: 5-7

Availability

About the program

Synopsis

Mrs. Frizzle, an eccentric science teacher, takes her class on filedtrips which are “out of this world.” With the help of a shrinking device and a Magic School Bus she is able to take the students on adventures in outer space, at the bottom of the ocean or inside an anthill, among a myriad other destinations.

Points to consider

Words of caution

• There are a number of examples of accidental harm, such as a student accidentally hitting a lizard with a net and then falling into the mud, neither was hurt.
• While on a field trip to Mars Mrs. Frizzle leads the students in jumping off a cliff. Due to the gravitational forces this was not a problem on the planet, but could prove very dangerous if imitated.
• Arnold, one student, sat on Janet, another student, to keep her from collecting more space junk and she eventually pushed him off of her.
  Arnold takes his space helmet off while on Pluto and his head freezes instantly. They take him back to earth where he winds up with a cold.
• Some of the information portrayed in the episodes is inaccurate, which they do address at the end of the show, but this creative licence may be confusing to some children. For instance the students were actually able to explore the surface of Mercury as well as that of Pluto.

Positive aspects

• introduces and teaches a wide variety of science concepts
• portrays information in a way that children can easily understand and remember
• uses repetition to reinforce concepts learned
• discusses and explains issues and shortcomings of each episode, such as the fact that not every type of ant or butterfly was covered during the session or the fact that they couldn’t possibly have visited all of the planets in one day.
• Mrs. Frizzle encourages the children to learn and to apply their own insights and understandings and encourages their progress without a lot of overt ‘teaching’.

Questions to ask

• Do you think that it would be safe to jump off a cliff like that on Mars? What might be at the bottom?  What do you think would happen if someone jumped off a cliff like that here on Earth?
• If someone were really to take off their spacesuit on Pluto do you think that they would just wind up with a bad cold?
• Can people really get close to the sun?
• Which parts do you think were true and which were imaginary?