The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge

This book does foster the development of the thought process by allowing the readers to follow along through pictures, dialogue, and personal experiences that the students are sharing. I believe that this story allows for students to build upon their prior knowledge by starting off with the basic ideas of global warming and the contributing factors. I like how the readers can follow along with the progression of the story.

Author: Joanna Cole
Illustrator: Bruce Degen
Year Published: 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-65599-6

Summary

Mrs. Frizzle and her students go on an adventure to undercover factors that contribute to climate change. Throughout this adventure Mrs. Frizzle and her students become certain factors that can be possible causes of this environmental issue. The class as a whole learn more about climate change and how they can do certain things to help prevent the issue from becoming worse.

Evaluation

Appropriateness: Low
Authority: Medium
Accuracy: Medium
Liteary Artistry: Medium
Appearance: High

Questions

Does the book foster development of processes?

Does the book provide an opportunity for children to ask and answer their own questions?

This book derives many questions from the text and answers them on each page throughout the text. I believe the students would have many questions about the illustrations because there are many and the flow of the illustrations can be overwhelming at times. I believe this book could be more effective if it had more concise pictures versus many.

Does the book encourage children to think for themselves?

In my own opinion, this book does not encourage children to think for themselves. This book has certain questions on each page that the author does a fine job at answering but I do not believe this book encourage students to ask questions. I am not sure what a book that encourages children to think for themselves would look like, sound like, or feel like. I as a reader have not read a science children’s lit book that encouraged students’ thinking.

Is the science topic addressed in ways that are appropriate to the lesson?

The science lesson is approached in a way that allows the readers to follow along as Mrs. Rizzle’s class goes on an adventure. The lesson that one would teach could be based around climate change, climate, environmental resources, states of matter, and others. I do believe this text could be used as a mentor text or read-aloud for a science lesson but I am not sure how accurate the information in the text is.

Is the content based on sound scientific principles? Is it accurate?

I believe that the majority of the text is based on sound scientific principles but I am not sure how accurate the information within the text really is. I know in my personal opinion that if I was an English language learner I would be thinking of many false things because of how the illustrations are done. The textual evidence is fine but the illustrations really could throw off someone who's primary language is not English.

Does the book distinguish between fact and fiction?

In my own opinion, this book is hard to distinguish between fact and fiction because of the illustrations and the outrageous field trips that these students are able to go on. Students cannot become gasses within a certain time/place. There is factual evidence that can be found within the text but not in the illustrations.

Are the illustrations clear and accurate?

The illustrations are all over the place in my opinion. I think there are too many illustrations on each page of the text. I also believe that since these pictures were hand done they might now be as accurate as a real picture. I feel like a lot of the illustrations are not correct because it would have to have a student to think with their imagination instead of factual evidence which could lead them in the wrong direction.

Is the book written at the level of your students?

This book is written at a level that could be a bit low for my students. Right now we are currently reading a 6th grade novel as our shared read-aloud. I feel if I would read this book to them as the read-aloud they would not be challenged by the vocabulary and the lack of literary elements within the text.

Is there a multicultural component? Is it free from stereotyping?

There is a multicultural approach to this text by having all of the main characters in Mrs. Frizzle's class be from a different ethnicity. I appreciate how everyone is different and how their thoughts are still similar to what a normal child their age would be thinking. I wonder how this book would have been perceived if a black teacher were the main character versus a white teacher.

Is the book free from gender bias?

This book seems to be free from gender bias because there are many females and males that are the main characters. I like how Mrs. Frizzle is a woman who takes her students on science field trips instead of a man doing so. I think that by allowing a woman to be the teacher allows for less gender bias to occur within a science text.

Does the book show the close association between science and other disciplines?

I was surprised how this book associated science and writing into this text. I noticed this book associated writing by incorporating small letters on each page along with the illustrations.

Does the book present a positive attitude toward science and technology?

This book does present a positive attitude toward science and technology by creating a sense of adventure throughout the entire text. I enjoy how there are students within a class that are the main characters. I think the characters are easy to relate to for students because their questions and dialogue are similar to those of elementary students.

Science Topics

Minimum Suggested Grade Level

Maximum Suggested Grade Level