It’s never too early to get kids interested in the Earth, and the fast-moving, Emmy-winning animated series “The Magic School Bus” might be just the place to start. The DVD “The Magic School Bus: All About the Earth” collects eco-oriented episodes in which the small classroom of bright grade schoolers go on field trips—literally into fields—under the benign direction of Miss Frizzle.
Accompanied by Liz the Certified Teaching Lizard, Miss F. pilots a yellow school bus that can turn into a submarine, an airplane, even a ladybug. With the cry of “Take Chances! Make Mistakes! Get Messy!” Miss F. teaches the kids to distinguish an octopus from a squid, the meaning of tectonic plates and the importance of pollen. Can you say proboscis? With her funky dresses and sandals, Miss Frizzle is everyone’s favorite hippie teacher—though in my school, she would have presided over art studio, not the science lab.
