Teacher Activity Guide: Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Explores The Ocean!
Updated: April 8, 2004
Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® Explores the Ocean tours seven ocean zones from the sandy beach to the deep, dark ocean bottom. The interactive story begins on the beach. Join Ms. Frizzle and The Magic School Bus kids for the buried treasure search.
During their incredible tour of the ocean, students can easily explore the seas from inside and outside the bus. At each ocean zone, they'll learn concepts and facts in highly motivating ways: intriguing experiments, multimedia reports, fun activities, fast-action games, and fun facts by Clem the Clam. The Quick Reference Guide outlines the topics for the seven ocean zones. The teaching guide includes seven lessons, one for each zone.
On This Page
Overview
Computer Basics
The booklet inside the CD case will tell you how to load and run the program. These quick tips will make your first ocean adventure easier.
Clicking
Point the cursor at objects and characters and click the mouse. Click boldly and often to uncover zany surprises!
On-Screen Help
In the front of the bus, look for a question mark (?) on the dashboard near the steering wheel. Click on it for multiple levels of help. All games and experiments also have a (?) help button on the toolbar on the top of the screen.
Sound
To turn the bus sounds on or off, click the lever to the left of the steering wheel in the front of the bus.
Scrolling
In some screens, you can scroll up, down, left or right. Move the cursor along the edge of the screen. If it turns into a big, solid arrow, click to scroll to a new screen. If it turns into a little submarine, click to drive to another ocean zone.
The Bus
When you're outside the bus and want to go inside, look for a bus and click on it. When you're in the front of the bus, click on the diver in the airlock to exit the bus. To move to the back of the bus, click on the mirror on the top of the screen. To return to the front, click to the right of Ms. Frizzle.
Moving Between Ocean Zones
Visit ocean zones in any order, as many times as you like. There are two ways to move between zones.
Inside the bus, click on the steering wheel to see the different zones. When you see the place you want to go, click on the gearshift or picture of the zone. Outside the bus, see "Scrolling", above.
Sunken Treasure
Travel throughout the ocean zones to find answers to three clues that lead to a sunken treasure. Ms. Frizzle will get you started on the Treasure Hunt. (Hint: Click on the floating bottle at the Sandy Beach to begin.) Then search for answers while exploring outside the bus, interacting with the Magic School Bus characters, and viewing reports and doing experiments in the back of the bus. Click on Liz the Lizard to review the clues.
Stopping/Saving the Game
Click on the QUIT/Save button in the front of the bus to stop playing, start a new treasure hunt, or save the current game. To leave the game quickly from any point, without saving the game, click the ALT button while at the same time clicking on the F4 button.
Quick Reference Guide
In each zone, experiments, activities, games and reports relate to theme of the zone. You can find all of them in the back of the bus. | In all zones, start the experiment by clicking on the monitor above Ms. Frizzle in the back of the bus. | The back of the bus has two activities common to all zones: Fish Factory (click on the TV) and Dress-Up (click on the second drawer from the button on the left side). | To start games from the back of the bus, click on the sliding door to the left of the diver icon. To start games at ocean zones, click on the objects in parentheses below. | To see the Report Monitor, scroll right in the back of the bus. Click on the Monitor to access a report. To see more reports, put the first report back and click again on the monitor. Each time you do this, a new report will appear. |
SANDY BEACH | Observe how wind and the slope of the ocean floor affect waves. | Build a 3D sand castle (click on Keesha's sand castle). | Crab Chase: Help a crab grab food before a seagull grabs the crab (click on the crab to play). | 1. Waves & Currents
2. Life on the Beach
3. Sea Turtles |
ROCKY INTERTIDAL | Place animals in three tide pool zones to see where they belong. | None | Ride the Tide: Help a fish swim as the tide rises and falls (click on the green fish to play). | 1. Tides
2. The Intertidal Zone
3. Holding On |
KELP FOREST | Observe how water temperature, substrate, and wave power affect the growth rate of kelp. | Kelp TV: Make a TV show by playing with ocean pictures (click on the small TV in the back of the bus). | Kelp Clean-Up: Bag pieces of garbage before losing oxygen or meeting up with a shark (click on Keesha to play). | 1. Underwater Forests
2. Kelp Forest Homes
3. You Otter Know This |
CORAL REEF | Match predators to prey. | None | Coral Maze Game: Steer a shark through a cluttered coral maze while picking up junk (click on the shark to play). | 1. What Makes a Coral Reef
2. Rainbow Reef Fish
3. Living Together
4. Sharks & Their Relatives of the Reef |
OPEN OCEAN | Observe how the shape of a fish affects its speed. | Spot the whale. Do some whale watching (Click on the periscope in the front of the bus). | Food Chain Game: Solve a puzzle (when the cursor becomes a magnifying glass, click on the star-shaped plankton to play). | 1. Ocean Food Chains
2. Nowhere to Hide
3. Antarctica |
DEEP SEA | Match an animal with its luminescent pattern. | None | Luminous Game: Hatchet fish search for the light patterns of friendly fish (click on the glowing fish). | 1. Inner Space
2. Strange Creatures of the Deep
3. Bottom Dwellers |
HOT WATER VENT | Learn how light, temperature, and food sources affect how a fish looks. | None | Lantern Fish Game: Gulp prey (click on the long, orange fish to play). | 1. Oasis in the Desert
2. Strange Animals of the Vents |
The Sandy Beach
The beach never stops moving. Wind blows. Waves crash. And sand gets pushed and pulled around by both wind and water forces.
Science Concepts
| • | Wind energy can create waves. |
| • | The energy from waves moves sand up and down a beach, making it difficult for plants and animals to settle there. |
| • | Sandy beach life is influenced by physical facts, such as wind and temperature. It is adapted to living in a harsh environment. |
Background
Beach life is adapted to wind, waves, and shifting sand. Sand dollars shovel their way into the sand so that waves can't sweep them away. Lugworms build U-shaped burrows. Clams use their single foot to dig an underground home. Mole crabs burrow backwards into sand and raise their eyes and antennae. The antennae trap food each time a wave washes over them.
When food is scarce, mole crabs climb out, roll into a ball, and let waves take them to a new feeding area.
Activities
1. Making Waves
Ask children: Are all waves the same?
The wave experiment shows how forces can change waves. Half-fill 9"-by-13" pans with water. Set out paper towels for clean-up. Have teams of children create and observe waves: blow slow, medium, and fast on the water. Tap the side for "earthquake" waves. Lift one end a bit and drop it. Children can observe differences in speed, height, and distance between the waves.
How does changing the depth of water affect waves? (They're farther apart.) Drop in ping pong balls. Do waves move the balls? How? (The balls bob up and down, but don't move forward. The same is true of the water.)
2. Sandslide
Ask children: How do waves affect the shoreline?
Add a dune and a beach to one end of your model ocean (see Activity 1). The water should be about an inch deep. Set Monopoly houses on the dune. Lift and drop the opposite end of the container in a steady rhythm to make waves. Ask children to describe what happens to the beach, the dune, and the houses.
Over time, beach erosion has destroyed much of the coastline, especially the east coast. How would students slow or stop erosion? (Put up barriers, plant grasses, channel the water away from houses, etc.)
3. Land of Sand
Ask children: What does sand look like? Is all sand the same?
Start a sand collection with local samples. Check hardware stores, gravel companies, pet stores, pool stores, and beaches. Ask friends, colleagues, and parents to collect sand when they travel. Soon, you'll have jars of sand from around the world!
Children will be surprised to see that beach sand can be white, black (because of lava), many shades of brown, red (because of iron), and gold. Feel the texture: fine, medium, or coarse. View grains under a microscope. Round grains indicate lots of wave action; others are jagged.
Intriguing Science Answer: Rivers pick up salt in rock and soil and carry it into oceans.
The Rocky Intertidal
First, your home is dry. Then it's underwater. Dry. Underwater. Over and over. That's life in the intertidal zone.
Science Concepts
| • | The gravity of the Earth, moon, and sun causes tides - the regular rise and fall of the sea surface. |
| • | The intertidal zone is shore that's under water at high tide and uncovered at low tide. |
| • | Intertidal animals and plants have traits that help them survive extremes. |
Background
Tides generally come in and go out every 13 hours - a long time for an ocean animal or plant to be exposed to air and sun. Waves can crash on intertidal life forms with staggering force. Small wonder that these plants and animals are tough - and well-adapted. Shells close up to seal in water (mussels, barnacles, periwinkles); mobile animals crawl to water or shade (star fish, crabs); some animals never leave the lower tidal zone, which is almost always underwater (sea urchins, anemones, sponges).
Activities
Intriguing Science Question: What can move an entire ocean all at once?
1. Dry Tide
Ask children: How does tidal life survive when exposed to air and sun?
The Ride the Tide game shows what a tough time sea animals have in open air. How about sea plants? Seaweed dries up, but then revives when the tide rolls in. A waxy coating keeps moisture from escaping. Grocers coat vegetables in wax for the same reason. Compare waxed and unwaxed cucumbers. Look for a waxy coating on some desert plants, especially succulents. They, too, have to conserve water. Have children put drops of water on waxed paper and notebook paper. Which one soaks through? Beads up?
2. Get a Grip
Ask children: How do intertidal animals stay in place when waves crash over them?
Sandy beach animals can burrow, but a rocky surface is too solid for that. Many intertidal animals grip rocks with cement (barnacles), suction cups (limpets), threads (mussels), slime (snails), and other sticking devices.
Brainstorm things that stick (glue, tape, Velcro, bubble gum, peanut butter, wet hard candy, denture adhesive, and so on). What can stick on rock? What can stick under water? Pare down the list and test substances. Attach sea shells, marbles, sponges and so onto rocks. Place the rocks in a deep tub or garbage can. Splash a "wave" into to the tub. Which "creatures" stick?
3. Shrinking Saltwater
Ask children: How do tide pools change when exposed to air and sun at low tide?
When the tide recedes, saltwater gets trapped in shallow pools and crevices. It begins to evaporate, especially when the wind is strong. As seawater evaporates, it leaves salt behind. The shrinking tide pool gets saltier and saltier - another extreme condition tidal life must tolerate.
Make identical "tide pools" of saltwater in a shallow containers. Set one tide pool in the sun, another in a windy area (or in front of a fan), and the third in darkness and calm. Check them over during the day for evaporation and salt rings. Compare the rate of evaporation.
Intriguing Science Answer: The gravity of the moon and sun move the oceans all at the same time creating tides.
The Kelp Forest
In cool, coastal waters, giant kelp can rise 10 stories from the ocean floor. These underwater plants can be as tall as trees, as thick as a forest, and as teeming with life as Grand Central Station.
Science Concepts
| • | Temperature, substrate (the matter on which organisms live), water clarity, and wave action influence where kelp lives. |
| • | A kelp forest is similar in structure to some forests on land. |
| • | It provides habitats at every level for many animals. |
| • | Humans harvest kelp for many foods and products. |
Background
Kelp is a type of seaweed. Forests of giant kelp grow tall (150 to 200 feet!) and fast (a foot or two per day!). Like forest trees, they reach up out of darkness for light. Other similarities between a kelp forest and a tree forest:
| • | Dense vegetation and darkness provide hiding places for prey. |
| • | Predators frequent the forests in search of prey. |
| • | Horizontal layers house distinct ecosystems: a sunny canopy (top layer), a dimly lit middle, and a dark forest bottom. |
| • | Animals choose a level that suits their unique need for light, temperature, food supply, and shelter. |
Kelp even resemble trees in structure. Like leaves, blades photosynthesize food; the "stem" is called a stipe. Like roots, holdfasts anchor the kelp. (But they don't drink nutrients from the ground.) Bladders are golf ball-sized air balloons for buoyancy.
Activities
Intriguing Science Question: Why doesn't giant kelp grow in the open ocean?
1. Seaweed by the Seashore
Ask children: Have they ever eaten seaweed?
Show seaweed snacks from Asian markets or restaurants and health food stores. Point out that these are just a few seaweed foods that people eat. Kelp farms, such as one off the coast of California, harvest seaweed by the ton to use in many products.
Challenge children to find seaweed in their kitchen! They should look on labels for these seaweed components: algin, agar, and carrageen. They make products smoother, thicker, and more consistent: salad dressing, pudding, condiments, yogurt, ice cream, hand lotion, toothpaste, and more.
2. Floor Model
Ask children: Why do different animals live at each level of the kelp forest?
Make a kelp forest model! Use the information in The Magic School Bus Explores the Ocean as a guide. Hang paper kelp fronds from the ceiling. Attach their holdfasts (pipe cleaners) to the floor. Then add sea life.
The canopy (top layer) is the sunniest part. Otters, seals, sharks, sea lions, and seabirds hunt in the well-lit waters. Middle layers house snails and other invertebrates, which crawl on the blades, stipes, and stems of kelp. Fish hide among the kelp. The forest bottom is dark. Brittle stars, sea urchins (they eat kelp and are eaten by otters), sponges, and more live among the holdfasts (the "roots").
3. Muddy Waters
Ask children: How transparent (clear) is water?
In the kelp experiment in The Magic School Bus Explores the Ocean, children watch how wave action and temperature affect the growth of kelp. Water clarity is another important factor. Clear water lets more light reach the kelp blades for photosynthesis.
Fill 6 jars with a cup of water. Leave one clear. Add increasing amounts of baking soda to the others - 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 teaspoons. Which jars are cloudiest? How can you measure them? Some ideas: Let the water evaporate; then weigh the residue. Shine a light and note how much light gets through the jar. Put a white and black disk (for contrast) behind the jar; can you see it?
Intriguing Science Answer: Giant kelp grows only from the ocean floor, and so can only reach surface light in shallow, coastal waters.
The Coral Reef
Quarters may be cramped and the competition stiff, but coral reefs are home to a colorful and diverse community.
Science Concepts
| • | Coral reefs are habitats for many animals that live in warm, shallow, and clear ocean waters. |
| • | Reefs are made of the skeletal remains of coral, an animal. |
| • | Corals (and other reef animals) compete for space and light. |
Background
Corals are animals; they start out as free-floating larvae. Currents may carry them many miles until they die or find a spot to settle down.
One coral can start a massive colony, since they reproduce by budding.
Hard corals build limestone skeletons in a stunning variety of color and shape. Some tropical colonies add to layers of old, dead coral until a reef forms. The Great Barrier Reef near Australia is more than 1,000 miles long. Since reef corals live in shallow, warm (72°F or more), clear water, algae and seaweed are abundant.
A few reef dwellers include: hermit crab, star fish, sponge, staghorn coral, butterfly fish, porcupine puffer, lookdown fish, triggerfish, angelfish, feather duster worm, tube worm and sponge.
Activities
Intriguing Science Question: Is a coral reef alive?
1. Survival school
Ask children: How do some fish swim in schools?
On a playground or in a gym, have five students form a tiny school of fish. Four stand in a square and one is in the middle, close but not touching. Each "fish" carries a flag. To move, "fish" walk in the same direction at the same speed, like marching bands, troops, or flocks of birds. The "fish" at the head of the school is the leader. When the school changes direction, a new "fish" is at the head and so becomes the leader.
Allow the "school" to practice while other students observe and record changes in formation. Introduce a predator: you. Carry a red flag, circle the schools, and attack. Stragglers are fair game. "Fish" that stay in formation can't be harmed.
2. Name Game
Ask children: Do all corals look alike? What makes them different?
Corals have descriptive names: brain, fan, lettuce, mushroom, elkhorn, and so on. Make a list of these names. Then find pictures of the coral in a field guide or encyclopedia. Can students match the pictures with the names?
3. Coral Condos
Ask children: What conditions entice corals into starting a colony?
Tell children that they are developers who choose new locations for corals to build condos. If they choose wrong, corals will die. If all goes well, an abundance of life will move into the condos.
Have students research the locations of coral reefs and look for patterns and similarities. For example, corals only build reefs in shallow, tropical waters. What do they need to survive? Important factors are warmth, light, food, substrate, few predators (such as sea stars), and enough wave or current action (for carrying a constant supply of fresh food).
Intriguing Science Answer: A coral is a tiny animal that lives inside a hard skeleton - also called coral. Millions of living coral form a reef.
The Open Ocean
Fast, sleek swimmers inhabit the wide-open seas. These speedy creatures cover miles of ocean in search of food or a safe haven.
Science Concepts
| • | Light, temperature, and currents determine how much life and what kind of life lives in the open ocean. |
| • | Some animals use ocean currents to migrate. |
Background
Most ocean life - by far - lives near the surface, where sunlight is visible. It is concentrated near coastlines, where the warm, clear waters have plentiful food. Food is sparse in the open ocean. Often animals who are fast swimmers travel great distances to find food: swordfish, tuna, sharks, and whales, for example.
Among the most important life forms are plankton, microscopic organisms carried by ocean currents. They live in the upper parts of the ocean, where they use the sun's light for photosynthesis.
Plankton and seaweed create more of the world's oxygen than all the plants on land.
Activities
Intriguing Science Question: Why do some people say there's a single world ocean?
1. Getting Along Swimmingly
Ask children: Can a human outswim a blue whale? A barracuda? A dolphin? Any sea creature? Is it easier to run on land or in water? Can they swim faster or run faster on land?
Water is harder to get through than air because it is denser. Yet many ocean animals can swim as fast as land animals can run:
Sailfish: 65 mph (104 kph)
Bluefin tuna: 62 mph (100 kph)
Dolphin: 37 mph (59 kph)
Barracuda: 27 mph (43 kph)
Mackerel: 20 mph (33 kph)
Blue whale: 9 mph (15 kph)
Fastest Humans: 5 mph (8 kph)
Perch: 1.3 mph (2.7 kph)
Have students graph the data. Compare the body shapes of these creatures with those of slower creatures (angelfish, puffer, skate, eel).
2. Unsinkable? Unthinkable!
Ask children: Why don't fish sink?
The Open Ocean experiment shows how size and shape affect a fish's ability to float. Challenge children to sink empty film canisters (lids on) in water. Push the canister down, and the water pushes it back up! This resistance is buoyant force. The denser water buoys up the less dense canister. The canisters are unsinkable! Or are they?
Fish have swim bladders that make them buoyant. Pretend the canisters are fish. How could children make them float between the surface and bottom (called neutral buoyancy)? Pass out weights (pennies, paper clips, washers). Ask: How many weights will make the canisters sink halfway down? Record all predictions and experiment!
3. Fire & Ice
Ask children: What happens when hot and cold water meet?
Water at the equator is hot - 84°F; water at the poles is cold - 35°F. A warm current can run into a cold current. Half-fill a heat-resistant glass measuring cup (or bowl) with ice-cold water. Add food dye to piping hot water and pour it down the side of the cup or bowl. The hot, colored water will float on the cold water because it's less dense. Gradually, it cools and the waters begin to mix. Look for circular currents and follow where they travel in the bowl.
Intriguing Science Answer: All the oceans are connected in a continuous flow of water around the world.
The Deep Sea Zone
Pitch dark, ice-cold, and nearly barren, the deep sea is almost as hostile to life as an asteroid. Yet a small cast of characters has adapted to this extreme world.
Science Concepts
| • | As you go deeper into the ocean, sunlight disappears, pressure increases, and temperature generally decreases. |
| • | These changes determine how much life and what kind of life live at various depths. |
| • | Deep sea animals have adaptations for finding food and avoiding predators in the dark. |
Background
Reefs, underwater mountains, or trenches form barriers. But the ocean has less obvious walls: light, temperature (a range of about 35°F to 84°F), pressure, salinity (amount of salt), currents (important to filter-feeders), and substrate (the material on which organisms live). These physical traits change drastically from surface to deep sea bottom. That drastic change keeps surface creatures (sharks, tuna) and deep sea creatures (anglerfish, gulper eels, glass sponges) from mixing.
Activities
Intriguing Science Question: Why are deep sea creatures small, instead of monster-size?
1. Pressurize!
Ask children: What is water pressure?
Water is heavy. (Have children try to lift a pail-full.) Heavy water presses on whatever is in it. The deeper the water, the harder it presses.
Have students wrap an arm in an empty plastic bag up to their elbows. Use a rubber band or strip of cloth to seal the bag so that water can't get in. Next, have them slowly stick their arm into a bucket or tub that's half full of water. Smoooosh! Their arm feels like it's in a Spandex cast, thanks to water pressure.
2. Deep Six
Ask children: Which can swim deeper - a whale or a fish? A robot or a submarine?
Here are the maximum depths for six deep sea divers. Make a chart of ocean diving depths. Then add creatures children meet in The Magic School Bus Explores the Ocean.
1. Scuba Divers: 40 meters
2. Military Submarines: 900 meters
3. Whales: 1,200 meters
4. Undersea Robots: 7,900 meters
5. Deepest Fish: 8,500 meters
6. Submersibles (mini-submarines): 11,000 meters
3. Search and Avoid
Ask children: How do deep sea creatures find things in the dark?
The deep sea experiment and game deal with animals that glow so they can see and be seen better: lantern fish, hatchet fish, viper fish. The female anglerfish (3-6 inches) has a small but bright light at the end of a "fishing pole" on her snout. The light lures prey and mates without revealing the angler fish herself.
Brainstorm ways to communicate in the dark (use sound or sonar, put out really long feelers, just sit there and wait for something to bump into you, walk along the ocean bottom until you step on something, and so on). Then have students visit the Deep Sea Floor. Have them draw a new deep sea creature (fish, spider, squid, eel, brittlestar, or other invertebrate) that can communicate in total darkness.
Intriguing Science Answer: Big animals need to eat more to stay alive. The deep sea has little food - most of it scraps that sink from above.
The Hot Water Vent
For centuries, people believed that all life depends on the sun's energy. In 1977, the discovery of hot water vents proved otherwise.
Science Concepts
| • | Because deep sea vents are rich in nutrients, the few species of inhabitants appear in great numbers. |
| • | Instead of green plants and photosynthesis, vent organisms rely on bacteria and chemosynthesis (making food from chemicals). |
Background
Hot water vents form inside cracks in the ocean floor. Ice-cold ocean water seeps down into the vents, where hot magma (molten rock) heats the water to 1,100°F (600°C). The hot water shoots up through a chimney-like vent, carrying chemicals (notably hydrogen sulfide) with it.
Bacteria convert hydrogen sulfide into food.
Everything else on Earth depends on green plants, but the vent creatures depend on bacteria for nutrients. Nutrients are so rich that animals reproduce quickly and grow huge compared to their non-vent cousins.
Activities
Intriguing Science Question: Are there volcanoes in the ocean?
1. Ocean Log
Ask children: Does all life depend on the sun's energy?
That's what students' parents learned in school. But then scientists discovered chemical-based hot water vents in 1977. Even with high-tech submarines and submersibles, humans have explored just a tiny fraction of the world's oceans. The discoveries are just beginning. Create a class "Ocean Log" of clipped articles and pictures about ocean discoveries and events. Children can also write their own ocean news articles.
2. Hot Shot
Ask children: If the deep sea is icy cold, why are deep sea vents so hot?
Review the layers of the Earth: crust, mantle, and core. Hot water vents appear where the crust is spreading on the ocean floor.
To demonstrate, slightly crack a hard-boiled egg and show how the pieces shift around. When two pieces split, the soft white part "the magma" is visible. Imagine that this "magma" is like tar that's hot enough to melt lead!
3. Ocean Vent Pyramid
Ask children: What does an ocean vent food pyramid look like?
Review the flow of energy in food pyramids. Then have students research a vent creature in The Magic School Bus Explores the Ocean and reference books. Three-foot worms rise from the sea floor. They have no eyes, mouths, or guts; they just absorb bacteria through the skin. Giant clams and anemones are filter feeders - grabbing food out of flowing water. Crabs are scavengers.
As a class, create a vent food pyramid and compare it to a non-vent one. A vent (the sun) spews hydrogen sulfide (sunlight); bacteria (plankton) use the chemical to make food; tube worms (krill) eat the bacteria.
Intriguing Science Answer: The ocean floor has volcanoes and mountains - some taller than Mt. Everest!
