The Magic School Bus Explores the World of Animals

Age Group: Age 4 to 8, Age 8 and Up Type: Science Price: $20

Description:

Ms. Frizzle and her students are embarking on an adventure to restore some of our favorite animals to their natural habitats. We start out in the classroom where there are clickable hotspots, "reports" to be read and heard, and more animal facts than you can "shake a stick at." The hotspots are great because many of them change as you click them multiple times, building upon their previous action. The reports contain movies and fun facts about amphibians and reptiles, birds, mammals, marsupials, insects, fish, endangered animals, and invertebrates. Questions about why animals are classified the way they are are answered in easy-to-understand, kid-friendly language. If you like animal jokes, just click on Carlos to hear some inventive animal humor. When you have explored the classroom, head for the bus for the next part of your amazing journey into the world of animals.

Once on the bus, the player is allowed to create the "wild driver" by choosing from a disgusting (but delightful) assortment of facial features and characteristics. At the back of the bus, you will find the "Game-A-Tron" where you can play the games from the different habitats, a paint and stickers section where you can use the animal stickers you collect throughout your explorations, a "Morph Machine" where you can "morph" the students into different animals, and the "Adapt-O-Matic" where you can learn how some common domesticated animals have adapted to life in different habitats. When you're done exploring the bus, click on the steering wheel to see the six habitats available to explore. Besides containing a huge amount of information about the animals, each habitat has its own fun-filled game and paint/sticker center. There are also numerous opportunities to work with "Sherlock Bones" to put together the skeletons of many different animals. A bag full of tools (including "x-ray glasses" and a magnifying glass, among other things) is available to more closely study the huge number of animals explored in this wonderful program.

Besides the obvious attraction of tons of animals in each location and the quest for the poor "lost animal" to return it to its home, there are also games in each location to reinforce concepts (or sometimes just to have fun!) In the classroom, you can play Sherlock Bones, hear reports, and see short movies of the animals. On the bus there are science experiments, art ideas, and animal facts. The Southern North American Swamp lets you help Arnold (who is now part frog) eat flies while avoiding the predatory snapping turtles. This location and each other one provides a skeleton puzzle to put together. The Arctic Tundra and Ocean has its own version of "Frogger" where you can guide the penguin across the slippery ice. Once in the African Savanna, you can tag the animals according to their category while racing against the clock. Jump from anaconda to anaconda with Keesha to cross the river in the Brazilian Tropical Rainforest. Puzzles abound in the South Pacific Island and Reef. You know how kids enjoy "potty humor"? Well, they have their chance to explore their fascination with "poop" fully when they adventure to the North American Sonoran Desert and join Scat Stevens on the "scat sound track" game show. Here we learn about different animal sounds, tracks, and scat (poop). My daughter, of course, loved this part. In the Himalayan Mountains, match tiles to clear the playing field and gaze upon even more interesting animals. Beside the games, there are oodles of facts in each area, things that pique your interest and reinforce basic concepts about the natural world.

Features:

• Closed captioning (Off or on)
• Arcade-style games
• Puzzles
• Short videos

Technical Aspects:

Report and Conclusions: