Teacher Activity Guide: Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Explores The Rainforest
Updated: March 25, 2004
As Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® Explores the Rainforest begins, Ms. Frizzle's students are creating a replica of a rainforest in the classroom. But their rainforest toolbox is missing four objects. Without these objects, they can't complete the replica. As usual, the Friz has a very unusual solution. Your students are in the driver's seat as The Magic School Bus whisks everyone off to a rainforest in Costa Rica to search for the missing items.
While students explore the beauty and diversity of a tropical jungle, they will investigate the rainforest climate, interdependencies in the ecosystem, mimicry and camouflage, plant and animal adaptations, and more. Students learn these science concepts in highly motivating ways: fascinating reports, incredible facts, fun activities, and fast-action games.
The Quick Reference Guide outlines the content in The Magic School Bus Explores the Rainforest. The hands-on activities in this guide reinforce the scientific concepts in the CD-ROM.
COMPUTER BASICS
The booklet inside the CD-ROM jewel case will tell you how to set up and run the program. The disk has a Readme file with further instructions. These quick tips will make your first rainforest adventure easier.
Clicking
Point the cursor objects and characters and click the mouse. Click boldly and often to uncover zany surprises!
On-Screen Help
Ms. Frizzle gives a tour of the bus. To stop the tour, click on the oval on the bottom of the TV set. To ask for help on the bus or in games and activities, click on the question mark (?).
The Classroom
The classroom is split into two screens. To scroll right or left, click on the green wind-up toy. To hear about the class's rainforest projects, click on the characters in the classroom. To begin the field trip, click on the bus.
Exiting the Bus
Click on the doors to the right of the dashboard to exit. When you're finished exploring outside the bus, find and click on the bus to go back inside.
The Dashboard
Here are some dashboard features (and the tools that activate them):
| • | Closed Caption viewing ("CC" button in the upper right corner) |
| • | Rainforest Web Monitor, which presents examples of interactions and interdependencies between species (spider in the upper left corner) |
| • | Map of Rainforest Zones (knapsack to the left of the dash) |
| • | Topeka the Frog's fun facts (orange lever to the left of the scrapbook) |
| • | Create-a-Forest: The button is green and orange. |
Scrapbook
The red scrapbook is an illustrated journal of sites that have been explored. Type in personal entries and print the pages.
Reports
Click on the eyeballs below the dashboard to access a multimedia report. Topics include trees, flowers, insects, birds, reptiles and amphibians, mammals, parasites, rainforest fundamentals, and products of the rainforest.
Traveling Between Sites
Visit and revisit sites in any order. There are two ways to travel:
| • | In the bus, the green button is for the understory, the blue button is for the canopy, the brown button is for the treefall gap, and the red button is for the classroom. Click on the wheel to light the button of your destination. Then click on "GO!" to get there. |
| • | Outside the bus, move your mouse pointer along the edge of the screen. If it turns into a bus, click to travel to a new locale. Sites and Subsites After arriving at a site, you will explore a main screen with plants, animals, games, activities, and stories. Access subsites - new views of the site - by clicking on magnifying glass icons. |
The Rainforest Toolbox
At the beginning of each game, the computer randomly chooses four items for you to find. Click on Wanda's toolbox to find out more about these items. Click on the green buttons for clues. Click on the lid to see changes in the classroom rainforest replica as you add items.
Cloning Objects
If you think you have found a missing item, click on the cloning tool on the right side of the toolbox. The mouse pointer will turn into a mini-cloning tool. This means you can click on an object to clone it. If you have chosen the correct item, Ms. Frizzle will let you know. To put the cloning tool back, click on the toolbox.
Stopping
Click on the Quit/Save button in the upper right corner of the bus to stop playing, save the current game, or start a new game. To leave the game quickly from any point, without saving the game, press the ALT key while at the same time pressing the F4 key (Microsoft® Windows® version) or press the Apple key and Q keys (Macintosh version).
