Magic School Bus

You never know where Ms. Frizzle, that delightfully wacky science teacher known to millions of school children, will go next. One day, she's navigating the Magic School Bus through Ralphie's body, the next, she's zipping her fictional class to the -- solar system. Yesterday, the Frizz and her bus landed at the Enoch Pratt Free Library downtown, to the glee of elementary-age groupies throughout Baltimore."Have we all brought our imaginations today?" asked Ms. Frizzle (played by Canton children's librarian Sara Moran in a poofy red wig and a dress bedecked with squids)

Magic School Bus Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm comes to Port Discovery tomorrow to provide hands-on activities for aspiring meteorologists. The three sections of the exhibit - Ms. Frizzle's Classroom, the Weather Observatory (the Magic School Bus itself) and Walkerville Weather Center - will teach about the water cycle and how the forces of air, water, land and heat create weather. Kids will use thermometers and anemometers, read meteorological maps and learn about natural indicators for weather.

Magic School BusChildren won't want to miss the bus on Saturday when the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America presents Scholastic's the Magic School Bus LIVE! "Arnold's Favorite Field Trip." The 65-minute show is based on the book series by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen published by Scholastic Inc. and the PBS television show. The Magic School Bus comes alive in this stage show filled with music, learning and fun -- complete with audience participation.In "Arnold's Favorite Field Trip," an ordinary field trip to a bridge dedication ceremony turns into an adventure in Arnold's pantry for the teacher, Ms. Frizzle, her reptilian sidekick, Liz, reluctant 11 Arnold, corny Carlos, bookish Dorothy Ann, curious Keesha and energetic Wanda.

" 'The Magic School Bus' series are my favorite books because they have exciting adventures. The bus can turn into creatures and different things. From inside the bus, the books' characters can do things such as see what it's like to be smaller than everything else." -- Kendra Mellerson Leith Walk Elementary "In the early morning of April 18, 1906, an earthquake shook San Francisco. 'If You Lived at the Time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake' by Ellen Levine describes what it was like to be there.

Magic School Bus Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm comes to Port Discovery tomorrow to provide hands-on activities for aspiring meteorologists. The three sections of the exhibit - Ms. Frizzle's Classroom, the Weather Observatory (the Magic School Bus itself) and Walkerville Weather Center - will teach about the water cycle and how the forces of air, water, land and heat create weather. Kids will use thermometers and anemometers, read meteorological maps and learn about natural indicators for weather.

Magic aboard the busThe Magic School Bus will be in Baltimore today at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral St. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the public is invited to take a tour.Known to scores of children who have read the books and watched the PBS television series, the celebrated bus is on a cross-country tour from New York to Seattle, Wash. Along the way the bus will make about 20 stops at libraries, museums, book stores and festivals.Mayor Kurt Schmoke is expected to be on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning before the bus opens to the public and students from area elementary schools.

It looked like pandemonium when more than 200 children and parents attended the Savage library's "Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor" program last week -- and several weeks of planning and work by volunteers and staff paid off.Balloon octopuses hung from the ceiling, converting the meeting room into a facsimile of the ocean.The walls were covered with paper cut-outs of reefs and algae, and special activity stations were installed around the room.Because the program took its theme from the popular children's science series, "The Magic School Bus," the first activity station included a two-foot plastic bus for children to play on.To the accompaniment of music from "The Little Mermaid," the children sampled foods found under and around the sea and played on a beach area (a blue tarp)

There's a children's show on public television, the "Magic School Bus," about a nutty teacher, her class and their school bus, which can transform into everything from a diving bell to a time machine to take the students on field trips to places they otherwise couldn't visit.Magic school buses are make-believe, but we have the next best thing: a magic school bus route.Welcome to the information superhighway and the Maryland Teleplex. The futuristically named project is a venture of Maryland Public Television, the State Department of Education and Bell Atlantic.

BAT ATTACKIf hanging upside down or flying in the dark sounds like your sort of thing, check out Bats Bats Everywhere, the battiest site on the Internet.Follow the screech to http://members.aol.com/bats4kids/. You'll enter a virtual cave of these critters, find out what they eat, what kind of homes they have and why bats aren't birds. Did you know that bats are helpful to humans in many ways, or that bats are not blind? Enter the Bat Page Game Room, featuring crosswords, puzzles and more.

" 'The Magic School Bus' series are my favorite books because they have exciting adventures. The bus can turn into creatures and different things. From inside the bus, the books' characters can do things such as see what it's like to be smaller than everything else." -- Kendra Mellerson Leith Walk Elementary "In the early morning of April 18, 1906, an earthquake shook San Francisco. 'If You Lived at the Time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake' by Ellen Levine describes what it was like to be there.

BAT ATTACKIf hanging upside down or flying in the dark sounds like your sort of thing, check out Bats Bats Everywhere, the battiest site on the Internet.Follow the screech to http://members.aol.com/bats4kids/. You'll enter a virtual cave of these critters, find out what they eat, what kind of homes they have and why bats aren't birds. Did you know that bats are helpful to humans in many ways, or that bats are not blind? Enter the Bat Page Game Room, featuring crosswords, puzzles and more.

It looked like pandemonium when more than 200 children and parents attended the Savage library's "Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor" program last week -- and several weeks of planning and work by volunteers and staff paid off.Balloon octopuses hung from the ceiling, converting the meeting room into a facsimile of the ocean.The walls were covered with paper cut-outs of reefs and algae, and special activity stations were installed around the room.Because the program took its theme from the popular children's science series, "The Magic School Bus," the first activity station included a two-foot plastic bus for children to play on.To the accompaniment of music from "The Little Mermaid," the children sampled foods found under and around the sea and played on a beach area (a blue tarp)

Magic School BusChildren won't want to miss the bus on Saturday when the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America presents Scholastic's the Magic School Bus LIVE! "Arnold's Favorite Field Trip." The 65-minute show is based on the book series by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen published by Scholastic Inc. and the PBS television show. The Magic School Bus comes alive in this stage show filled with music, learning and fun -- complete with audience participation.In "Arnold's Favorite Field Trip," an ordinary field trip to a bridge dedication ceremony turns into an adventure in Arnold's pantry for the teacher, Ms. Frizzle, her reptilian sidekick, Liz, reluctant 11 Arnold, corny Carlos, bookish Dorothy Ann, curious Keesha and energetic Wanda.

You never know where Ms. Frizzle, that delightfully wacky science teacher known to millions of school children, will go next. One day, she's navigating the Magic School Bus through Ralphie's body, the next, she's zipping her fictional class to the -- solar system. Yesterday, the Frizz and her bus landed at the Enoch Pratt Free Library downtown, to the glee of elementary-age groupies throughout Baltimore."Have we all brought our imaginations today?" asked Ms. Frizzle (played by Canton children's librarian Sara Moran in a poofy red wig and a dress bedecked with squids)

Magic aboard the busThe Magic School Bus will be in Baltimore today at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral St. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the public is invited to take a tour.Known to scores of children who have read the books and watched the PBS television series, the celebrated bus is on a cross-country tour from New York to Seattle, Wash. Along the way the bus will make about 20 stops at libraries, museums, book stores and festivals.Mayor Kurt Schmoke is expected to be on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning before the bus opens to the public and students from area elementary schools.

Non-Bus Policy Penalizes SomeI was truly infuriated by the Dec. 19 editorial entitled, "The Magic School Bus." I believe that all elementary school students should receive bus service. In the 1990s, no young child or even group of young children is safe walking to school. This means that parents whose children are not allowed to ride the bus are unfairly penalized by having to drive their children every day.I believe that this is an unfair burden to place on our families, whether the parents work inside the home or outside of it. Is it fair to separate elementary students and parents into haves and have-nots based on whether they live on the bus route?

There's no cure for the first day of school blues. But here are a few books that might help take the edge off the dread.* "Kindergarten Kids" by Ellen B. Senisi (Scholastic Cartwheel paperback, $2.50, 32 pages, ages 3-6) is a great way to get kids ready for preschool and kindergarten. It's a photo essay starring the 21 kids going to kindergarten at Lincoln School.They're an all-American, multi-racial bunch, doing and saying things that most readers can identify with. LaVonne makes pretend breakfast in the house corner.

Non-Bus Policy Penalizes SomeI was truly infuriated by the Dec. 19 editorial entitled, "The Magic School Bus." I believe that all elementary school students should receive bus service. In the 1990s, no young child or even group of young children is safe walking to school. This means that parents whose children are not allowed to ride the bus are unfairly penalized by having to drive their children every day.I believe that this is an unfair burden to place on our families, whether the parents work inside the home or outside of it. Is it fair to separate elementary students and parents into haves and have-nots based on whether they live on the bus route?

The Howard County PTA Council is opening a Pandora's box by insisting that officials change a county school system policy on busing students.Specifically, the council wants the Board of Education to define what it considers an "acceptable level of safety" when it decides which children to bus to school. Currently, the policy is to transport elementary students when they live more than a mile from school, unless the path they must walk is considered unsafe. Middle and high school students are bused if they live more than 1.5 miles from school.

There's a children's show on public television, the "Magic School Bus," about a nutty teacher, her class and their school bus, which can transform into everything from a diving bell to a time machine to take the students on field trips to places they otherwise couldn't visit.Magic school buses are make-believe, but we have the next best thing: a magic school bus route.Welcome to the information superhighway and the Maryland Teleplex. The futuristically named project is a venture of Maryland Public Television, the State Department of Education and Bell Atlantic.