The Magic School Bus goes buggy
by Alan Zisman (c)
2000.
First published
in Toronto Computes, May
2000
Scholastic?s The Magic School Bus Explores Bugs
Microsoft Corporation
http://www.microsoft.com/kids/msb/bugs.htm
$29.95
Requires: Pentium 133, 16 MB RAM, about 15 MB hard
drive space,
16 bit colour video. Mac version also available
Ms Frizzle and her class are at it again, in the
eighth in Microsoft
and Scholastic?s popular Magic School Bus series. Having previously
taken
the bus through the solar system, under the Earth, and more, they?re
exploring
bugs.
While some of us may feel like bugs are a yucky topic,
they will appeal
to many of 6 to 10-year olds. And by continuing its combination of
learning
and fun, this Magic School Bus package will help to teach?certainly any
child who tries all the activities will know more about bugs than most
of their parents!
The program looks and feels like the rest of the MSB
series?any child
who has used another MSB title will feel right at home. Like the
others,
it starts off in the classroom, where the kids in the class tell bug
jokes,
and proudly display their bug reports. But we discover that a bug is
missing
from each of four terraria (terrariums?), and Ms Frizzle wants to herd
everyone into the bus to find the missing bugs. Of course, in order to
get a bugs-eye view of the world, the kids have to shrink to bug-size.
The back of the bus offers activities?a game machine
where you can morph
kids and bugs or play the games from the environments you?ve visited
(none
to start off with?a subtle prod to leave the bus and go exploring), an
experiment machine where you can set up bug-species fights, find
compatible
fireflies, and more, and a bug-song jukebox. Itsy-bitsy spider, anyone?
But to find the missing bugs, children have to get out
of the bus, into
each of four bug-filled environments?meadow, forest, pond, and jungle.
Each has offers a poster to decorate, and its own activity? such as an
ant maze, and the Bugs Are It! trivia game show. Children can click on
the bugs in the wild, to learn a bit about each, or to add them to a
field
guide. But what they?re supposed to do is to try to figure out which
bug
doesn?t belong in each environment, so they can be restored to the
proper
terrarium.
While some children will happily go along with that
task, others will
blissfully ignore it?and can travel from environment to environment
looking
for the games. As a teacher I would have preferred to see the software
do a better job of integrating the learning and the games.
As well, children may be a bit puzzled at the tools
they?re given in
the various environments. There?s a magnifying glass, for example, that
claims it will provide more information about ?some? of the bugs?but
did
nothing at all, as far as I could tell, even after using it to click on
everything in the meadow. Similarly, is there any point in adding bugs
to the field guide? And since (like in other MSB games), you have to
click
on the tool again for each bug, it can be frustrating and time
consuming
to check out all the insects.
Despite this grumbling, many children in the grade 2-5
range will find
MSB Bugs engaging?whether just for the games or as a way to learn about
the fascinating but much maligned insects, spiders, and other bugs that
surround us.