The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs facts for kids
| Author | Joanna Cole |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Bruce Degan |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Magic School Bus |
| Genre | Educational fiction |
| Publisher | Scholastic Corporation |
|
Publication date
|
September 8, 1994 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) also Audio book |
| Pages | 40 |
| ISBN | 0-590-44689-4 |
| OCLC | 33156881 |
| Preceded by | The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor |
| Followed by | The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane |
The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs is an exciting book from The Magic School Bus series. It was written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degan. This book is the sixth adventure in the popular series.
Contents
Journey to the Age of Dinosaurs
This story takes you on an amazing trip back in time! Ms. Frizzle's class is getting ready for Parents Night. They are turning their classroom into a cool "Dinosaur Land" because they are learning all about dinosaurs.
A Special Trip
Then, Ms. Frizzle gets a letter from an old friend from high school. This friend is a paleontologist, which is a scientist who studies fossils, like dinosaur bones! Ms. Frizzle decides to take the class on a field trip to her friend's dinosaur dig site.
Missing Bones and Time Travel
At the dig, they find out that some important bones are missing. These are the bones of a dinosaur called Maiasaura. To find them, Ms. Frizzle does something incredible. She turns the Magic School Bus into a time machine! They travel way back to the time when dinosaurs lived. The class gets to see real dinosaurs and learn about the different periods of the dinosaur era.
The TV Show Adventure
| "The Magic School Bus The Busasaurus" | |
|---|---|
| The Magic School Bus episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 4 |
| Production code | Unknown |
| Original air date | September 23, 1995 |
The book The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs was also made into a TV episode called The Busasaurus. The main idea of this episode was to show that not all dinosaurs were scary monsters, even though movies often make them seem that way.
Differences from the Book
The TV episode is a bit different from the book. The book shows all three main dinosaur time periods: the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. But the TV show only focuses on the Cretaceous period. This was because of time limits for the TV episode.
The Cretaceous Journey
In the episode, the kids visit Ms. Frizzle's old friend, Dr. Carmina Skeledon, at a dinosaur dig. Arnold finds a fossilized dinosaur egg. When they travel back in time, they end up in the Cretaceous period, about 67 million years ago! They see huge, long-necked dinosaurs called Alamosaurus.
Lost Egg and Chase
The kids get separated. An Ornithomimus dinosaur steals Arnold's egg! Arnold and Phoebe chase after it. Meanwhile, the rest of the class and Ms. Frizzle try to find them. They see herds of plant-eating dinosaurs like Parasaurolophus and Edmontosaurus. The bus even changes into these dinosaurs!
Meeting Meat-Eaters
They also see a herd of Triceratops. A group of meat-eating Troodon dinosaurs tries to chase a baby Triceratops, but the bigger Triceratops scare them away. Dorothy Ann notices that Troodon are indeed meat-eaters.
Arnold and Phoebe continue chasing the Ornithomimus. It drops the egg when it senses a sleeping Tyrannosaurus rex nearby. The T. rex is also a meat-eater! Arnold and Phoebe accidentally wake the T. rex, and it chases them. They run back to the class. Ms. Frizzle makes Arnold grow huge, and he scares the T. rex away. The class learns that the T. rex just wanted an easy meal.
Dinosaurs in the Episode
Here are some of the dinosaurs you can see in The Busasaurus episode:
- Alamosaurus: Ate plants.
- Parasaurolophus: Ate plants.
- Edmontosaurus: Ate plants.
- Ornithomimus: Ate both meat and plants.
- Triceratops: Ate plants.
- Troodon: Ate meat (but in real life, they ate both meat and plants).
- Tyrannosaurus rex: Ate meat.
Fun Facts from the Episode
- This was the first and only time travel field trip in the TV series.
- Arnold, who is usually a bit scared, acts very brave in this episode!
- Phoebe says a line similar to Arnold's famous catchphrase.
The Computer Game Adventure
| The Magic School Bus Explores In the Age of Dinosaurs | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Microsoft Home |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft |
| Series | The Magic School Bus |
| Platform(s) | PC (Windows, Macintosh) |
| Release date(s) | December 19, 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Educational |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
There was also a computer game based on this book and episode called The Magic School Bus Explores In the Age of Dinosaurs.
Game Mission
In the game, Ms. Frizzle has lost three photos of prehistoric animals from her photo album. Your job is to help her find new ones! You can explore seven different places, like "Triassic Arizona" and "Cretaceous Mongolia." Just like in the book, the game lets you explore all the different dinosaur time periods. When you find all three photos, Ms. Frizzle gives you a cool mask of a prehistoric animal to print and cut out.
Bus Transformations
Unlike the book and TV show where the bus turns into a time machine, in this game, the bus transforms into three different prehistoric animals!
- For the Triassic Period, it becomes a Coelophysis.
- For the Jurassic Period, it becomes a Stegosaurus.
- For the Cretaceous Period, it becomes a Pteranodon.
The cover of the game might show the bus as a time machine, but inside the game, it's an "animal mecha" that changes into these cool creatures! In the TV episode The Busasaurus, the bus also turned into animal mechas, like a Parasaurolophus and a Triceratops, but only for the Cretaceous period.
