The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System

Title: The Magic School Bus Lost in The Solar System

Author: Joanna Cole

Illustrator: Bruce Degen

Genre: Sci-Fi

Awards: None

Age Group: 1st–5th grade

I love the Magic School Bus series! Those books are fun and educational, not to mention Ms. Frizzle's dresses are amazing! In this particular book, Ms. Frizzle's class goes on an impromptu trip to space. It is just another typical day in Ms. Frizzle's class, and Arnold's cousin, Janet, is there to experience their next adventure. After discovering that the planetarium is closed, the Magic School Bus launches into the atmosphere. The students experience weightlessness and make a stop on the Moon. They then blast off to the Sun, dodging its explosive gases and detouring to each of the planets, learning about each one on the way. Disaster strikes when Ms. Frizzle leaves the bus to fix a taillight and her tether line snaps! She floats away and the class is lost in space! They continue to make their way to each planet, Janet taking over Ms. Frizzle's role of teaching the students. At last, Ms. Frizzle is rescued and the bus returns safely to Earth.

I would totally use this book in my classroom! Besides the actual text of the story, this book contained so many other educational tidbits throughout. For example, it had "student work" on the sides of the page with an important question related to space and its answer. And, of course, Ms. Frizzle teaches her students throughout their crazy trip. It is entertaining enough for students to want to read it, but it also feeds them information in an engaging way without them getting bored!

The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System is perfect for first through fifth grade. The story is simple, but there is so much educational content to learn from. It is easy enough for students to read independently, and they are sure to love all the speech bubbles and graphics on the sides of the pages.

Some ideas for lessons/activities that I found to accompany this book:

• Solar System Sensory Bin: This is perfect for preschoolers up to kindergarteners! Include black beans for the darkness of space, little yellow and white pom poms for stars, cookie cutters in the shapes of the moon and stars, astronaut figurines, rocket ships, or anything else you may have. Then, to work on fine-motor skills, you can use tongs, cups, and spoons so that the students can pick up, scoop up, and dump out items. 
• Solar System Model: At the end of the book, Ms. Frizzle's class creates a solar system mobile with all of the planets, the Sun, Moon, and Asteroid Belt. This would be a cool project for upper elementary or middle schoolers to visualize the solar system and to model the scale of each component!
• Rocket-bus Writing Activity: In this book, the class does not take a rocket ship to space! They take their trusty (?) bus to the solar system. Print out an outline of the school bus with lines on it so that students can write. Have them cut it out as well as the fire blasting out (construction paper). Then they can glue on the "blast off" part to the school bus, and they can respond to a writing prompt. Writing prompt ideas could vary based on age level and how scientific or creative you want this assignment to be. This would be a great bulletin board display! Here are a few writing prompt ideas...
• Which planet is your favorite? Why? Describe the planet.
• Compare and contrast 2 planets.
• Where would you go if you took a trip to space? Describe your trip.