"The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth" is Episode 1 in Season 8. It originally aired on September 10, 1990.
Synopsis[]
The episode begins with LeVar going to see an unusual place you may have never seen before. He is at California Caverns in Calaveras County, California. He is going to visit a world that is right under the Earth. Beneath the ground lies a series of caverns all carved out of limestone. LeVar is going to explore what the world under our feet looks like. He will be walking along the trail to the caverns.
After reading the title book, LeVar is ready for his underground trip. He is, however, a little nervous about it because he doesn't know what he'll see. Caves are mysterious places at times. He asks the viewers what he might see in there. Here's what they say: bats, rats, snakes, cavemen...just to name a few. His guide, Suzanne Dennis, finally comes to take him on this exciting underground journey.
Together LeVar and Suzanne climb down the hole that leads into the entrance of the caverns. Suzanne tells LeVar to be careful not to touch any of the walls in there because they're very fragile. The best way to go around in a cave is to walk like a caveperson. The walls in one room are made out of marble and limestone. LeVar is amazed to see that some of the rock in there is metamorphic rock. To him, it is really beautiful. He is surprised to learn that the whole cave was created by water that seeped through the Earth for millions of years. He is glad to go caving with a guide. You should never do so alone because you could get lost.
Suzanne's favorite room in the cave has stalactites (big icicle-like formations that hang from the ceiling) and stalagmites (formations that stick up from the floor). Both are formed by dripping water. Suzanne and LeVar go to another part where they have to go down a hole that will lead them to the next room. LeVar hears music in there. It's Suzanne playing a touching stone or cave drum. It is made out of a thin sheet of marble. They play it together.
One of Suzanne's favorite spots has soda straws made from the minerals that flow in there with the water. One slight bump and they can break. Suzanne has found some broken ones to show LeVar. They are kept in there, that way they can be recycled back into there. Halactites are cave formations that can grow anyway they want to. LeVar and Suzanne also see other amazing cave formations.
LeVar and Suzanne come back from their trip in the caverns. LeVar is amazed to find that outside it's very bright, comparing with the inside of the caverns. He was expecting it to be dark outside too, but he is amazed when he and Suzanne return from their trip underground. He tells the viewers that if all they saw today could be hidden beneath where we stand, imagine what wonders we could discover in front of our eyes, or in the pages of a good book.
Review Books[]
- Caves
- How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World
- Rock Collecting