In a departure from the tried and true format of all the previous Magic School Bus programs, this one has no overall goal or mission. Children are simply supposed to hop on the bus with Ms. Frizzle and the gang to explore the infamous Red Planet. Once there, kids find several experiments to conduct, a couple of Mars-themed arcade games and puzzles plus a host of Mars facts, photos and animations. These information tidbits are served up by Arnold, Dorothy Ann and the rest of the characters. We've got mixed feelings about this CD. On one hand, the experiments are interesting. For instance, children find out about the effects of air pressure as they see what happens to different foods in Mars' atmosphere. They also build rovers with varying power sources (battery vs. solar) to learn the benefits of each. There is plenty of information delivered, but in a shotgun approach- facts are just thrown out for kids to absorb as they will. The arcade games are fun for a little while, but fail to hold interest over time. One, for example, has kids steering a rover around the Mars terrain, collecting rocks. (Yawn!) The bottom line: We really missed the mission component found in the other Magic School Bus programs. In the Animals title, for example, children must explore various habitats to find wayward creatures. The missions give kids a reason to stick with the software, a goal to strive for. We'd recommend this purchase only for real space enthusiasts or as a supplement to a classroom unit on Mars.
Teaches: science, astronomy
Age Range: 6-10 Copyright © 2000 Children's Software Revue
Amazon.com Review
Ms. Frizzle missed her calling: she should work for NASA. From engaging games to fascinating facts to stunning photographic images from Mars, this interplanetary adventure doesn't miss a single detail. As the bus adeptly dodges satellites while it screams away from the Sun, it's obvious that this will be anything but a normal field trip with Ms. Frizzle and the gang.
Once the Magic School Bus settles, kids can play inside or venture onto the surface of Mars. Both areas are cluttered with gizmos that yield either a game, an experiment, or a compelling fact. (Did you know that Mars's moons are named for the Greek words meaning fear and panic? We didn't.) There's a lot to learn here: kids can put objects like watermelons and marshmallows into the Pressure-O-Meter to see what happens to them in the atmosphere, or try to land a module on Mars while coping with fuel loss and Martian gravity. There's even a rover-building station that hones deductive skills as kids decide whether a solar panel or a battery will work best to power their vehicle during the Martian night.
Attention to detail is what launches Magic School Bus Lands on Mars into the rarefied atmosphere of educational CD-ROMs that entertain as well as they teach; new players can enter how old they are on Earth and learn their Martian age, then later play Mind over Mars, a robot-hosted game show that dishes up tough Mars-related trivia questions and--better yet--elaborates on the answers.
As Ms. Frizzle zips about Mars's surface in her jetpack, we can't help but wish NASA would recruit the Friz to get all of us excited about space exploration again. The woman has the right stuff. (For ages 6 to 10.) --Anne Erickson
