The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge

The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge

Almost every day, something weird happens in her class.

In case you didn't notice, Ms. Frizzle is the strangest teacher in school. I noticed, I noticed!

For example, take the day we started to study global warming.We were going to put on a play about Earth and all the changes that are happening.

The Friz had brought a book from home, and we were using the pictures to help us paint the scenery.

Our play starts in the arctic. Who has the white?I need more white! Has anyone seen the white?

"Ms. Frizzle's book is kind of old," said Tim.

"It came out before things really started heating up."

"I'll go online to get new pictures," said Wanda.

She headed for a computer, but Ms. Frizzle was already out the door."Come on, class," she called. "Bring my book, please."

Let's get really up-to-date information. I hate it when she says stuff like that.

Well, I've heard her name is Valerie...

But I can't believe she was ever nine!

Before you could say "North Pole," the Friz herded us onto the bus.

She pushed a few buttons and pulled a few levers.

Then we were on our way to the Arctic Sea - a place with a completely different climate.Class, the climate in the arctic is usually very, very cold. And I didn't even bring a sweater!

When we got there, Dorothy Ann opened Ms. Frizzle's old book.

The pictures showed ice everywhere.

There was still plenty of ice in the Arctic,but a lot had melted, and more was melting all the time.

Ms. Frizzle steered the bus-plane all over the earth. We saw changes everywhere.

1Global warming is melting permafrost, soil that is usually frozen.

2It makes some places too dry. 3It raises the sea level.

4It changes the ocean chemistry and harms coral reefs and other sea life. This is terrible!

5warming causes stronger hurricanes and tornadoes ... and more forest fires ... and bigger blizzards.

6It causes animals and plants to die or to move. 7Strange weather hurts food crops.

That whole crop might be lost! No avocados? Holy guacamole!

"Aren't you children wondering why the earth is getting warmer and warmer?" asked Ms. Frizzle.

Actually, we were wondering why she was steering the bus-plane higher and higher.

Ms. Frizzle, aren't there natural ups and downs in the climate?

Yes, but they do not really explain what is happening on the earth today.Does anything explain what happens in the class?

"Most of today's warming is causedby the increasing level of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere," said the Friz."Heat-trapping gases are also called greenhouse gases."

She had that funny gleam in her eye.

We could tell something "interesting" was about to happen.

Heat-trapping gases act like a blanket for the earth.How does that work? Good question, ralphie. Uh-oh, here we go again!

The Friz was going to show us how the atmosphere could make the earth get warmer.

She had flown up so we could look down on the earth.

She gave us special microscope-goggles. We could see the gas molecules in the air.

Look, I see an oxygen molecule. Oxygen's not a heat-trapping gas.

There are carbon dioxide and water vapor. Uh-oh. Those are heat-trapping gases.

Now our teacher opened the bus door."Catch a sunbeam, kids!" she said, cheerfully pushing us out.

We started sliding toward the earth on our own sunbeams.

Children, notice how light rays pass right through the atmosphere. Isn't it fun?

In my school, there are no teachers like Ms. Frizzle.

Can I switch to your school? Help! Help! Help!

Our sunbeams landed gently and warmed the soil.

As the heat started rising from the earth, we found ourselves going right along with it.

"What an opportunity!" shouted the Friz. "We're going to learn about the greenhouse effect!"We were light! Then we changed into heat!

Now we're going up into the atmosphere again! Class, we're hot stuff!

The greenhouse gases trapped some of the heat. That heat headed back to Earth again.

It raised the earth's temperature even higher than before.

We're going down to earth again! We're being frizzed again!

As we went back to Earth, we looked down.

Carbon dioxide - CO2 - was rising into the air.

"A lot of extra CO2 is made when people burnning fossil fuels," said the Friz.

Look at all the CO2! It's coming from buses, cars, and trucks...

...houses and factories ...and electric power plants.

Wow! We had finally found out what was causing climate change.

It was mostly people - including us. We panicked!

Most of that CO2 is being made by things people do!

And the CO2 is making the earth warmer and warmer!

"How can we stop global warming?" we wailed.

"One way is to use less energy," the Friz said.

"Another way is to use alternative energy!

That's energy made with less - or no - fossil fuels."

And I have to draw more and more CO2 in the pictures.

Our teacher shooed us back on the bus-plane.

Like it or not, we were on our way to see some alternative energy.

If the friz is going, we have to go, too. We don't have an alternative.

We set out to see generators - machines that make electricity.

Most generators burn fossil fuel to spin their turbines and make electricity.

Alternative generators make it without fossil fuels.

Look at all the things that are making electricity. And no greenhouse gases.

In the countryside, we saw another alternative: windmills. The wind turned the blades.

"Anything that moves has energy," the Friz said. "And energy can be made into electricity."

So wind power makes electric power! That puts a whole new spin on things!

As we flew over a desert, we heard a loud crunch.

Out the window, we saw the bus-plane's wings fall off!

"Ms. Frizzle!" we yelled, but she didn't seem to notice.

She was too busy telling us about more alternative energy.

This time she pointed to a huge solar generator below.

The sun is running this power plant.

The wings are falling off this bus-plane! I don't think she's listening.

The bus made a crash landing. Oops, we mean a splash landing.

We were floating in a solar-heated swimming pool.

Ms. Frizzle kept talking, telling us about solar cells.

They make energy directly from the sun with no moving parts.

Children, do you notice the many devices powered by solar cells?

Um ... Ms. Frizzle. Do you notice that the bus is a giant pool toy? Hey! No splashing!

The bus stopped being a pool toy, so we rode into town.

Everywhere, people were saving energy.

Instead of driving private cars, many were using trains, buses, taxis,and bikes, as well as more fuel-efficient vehicles.If everyone carpooled, it would make a huge difference. Share taxicabs!

Ms. Frizzle pulled a bright green lever.At once the bus morphed into a hybrid vehicle that ran on gasoline and a rechargeable battery.

"Can we please go back to school, Ms. Frizzle?" we begged."We've been on this bus too long!" For once our teacher listened.

"We're back!" the Friz exclaimed. Pulling into the school parking lot.

We put our goggles back on, and we saw greenhouse gases all over the place.

This is not the only place there's CO2. Right! It's all over the earth!

Ms. Frizzle, how can we change things all over the earth!Class, we can start right here, right now!

We had to start saving energy right away.

"Conserve, conserve, conserve!" shouted the Friz. "Recycle, recycle, recycle!"

I conserve paper by writing on the back.

I conserve paper, too - by not doing my homework!

We started making changes at our school.

There was plenty of room for improvement.

Then we called the mayor of our town. Then we wrote to the president.

Mayor rivera? May our town get a windmill, please?

I'm emailing my senator! I'm writhing to my class back home.

......
未登录用户只显示文件一半，登录后可以查看全文，并且可以听外教原声朗读。