I'm telling you, something's missing.
But Tim, when it comes to deserts, we've got everything under the sun.
Sorry, DA, it just doesn't say "desert" yet.
Are you kidding? It screams "desert." We've got sand. We've got gravel.
We've got desert plants like cacti, creosote bushes, ocotillo.
We've got the desert's harsh conditions.
Hot, blazing sun
Dry, blinding dust storms.
Tim's right. There is something missing!
As I always say, Arnold, it never hurts to be prepared.
That's funny, Ms. Frizzle, that's exactly what l was thinking.
I know! I know! Desert animals! That's what's missing!
Ms. Frizzle, our diorama will never be complete without desert animals!
Dynamic deduction, Phoebe!
These should do for now.
Now? It's later I'm worried about.
Thank you, Ms. Frizzle. Here you go, little guy....
According to my research, that's a kangaroo rat. And that's a gila monster.
Isn't it cute?!
Only Phoebe would think a Gila monster is cute.
And there's more...Tortoise...beetle... scorpion...jackrabbit...roadrunner...
Hey, Liz, what's up with you?
And you know what this is? A baby coyote!
Phoebe, are you sure all these animals live in the desert?
Think about it. The desert is really hot.
The sun beats down all day long. Beat. Beat. Beat.
And there's nowhere for the animals to go to escape the heat...heat... heat!
But...
Not only is it hot, but there's hardly any food in the desert!
So any animal that shows its face...gets EATEN by a bigger one!
STOP!
And that's not all.
It isn't?
The worst part? There's almost NO WATER in the desert.
No water?
Uh-uh. No shelter. No food. No water.
In no time at all, all your cute little animals are buzzard bait.
SCARClTY is the name of the game, Pheebs. Scar-ci-ty.
He's right, Phoebe. There's not much food, water, or shelter in the desert.
We've got to DO something!
Yeah!
What can we do? What can we do?
What can WE do?
Well, at my old school, we'd take a stand! Form a committee!!
Go on a field trip!?
Arnold? Are you serious?
He's right! SADS to the rescue!
SADS?
Students Against Desert Scarcity!
To the Desert!
Ms. Frizzle? Yes Arnold?
For once, I'm prepared.... Regulation Desert gear...
As outlined in Chapter 7 of my new Field Trip Survival Guide....
Ms. Frizzle, do your worst!
I'll do my best, Arnold!
Well, are you guys coming,
or do I have to save these desert animals all by myself? To the bus!
Follow that Phoebe!
Hey Arnold, so what d'you have in that knapsack anyway.
A little sunblock, snake bite kit, a few dozen Malloblasters...
What?! No football!?
Carlos, we are NOT going to the desert to have FUN!
We're not? The desert is full of surprises, Phoebe.
And this bus is so slow! Can't we go any faster, Ms Frizzle?
Every second we waste means those poor little animals are out there suffering.
That's one way of looking at it, Phoebe! Okay bus! Do your stuff!
All right!
Way to go!!
Are we there yet?
Chill, Phoebe. We only just took off.
We're flying over mountains. Didn't you say "Students Against DESERT Scarcity"?
Yeah, and mountains have PLENTY of shelter, food and water.
Ms. Frizzle! We must be going the wrong way!
Wrong way? Why, Phoebe. If it weren't for the mountains, there wouldn't be a desert.
What do mountains have to do with the desert?
Haven't you guys ever heard of a rain shadow?
No...
Some deserts are made by what's called the rain shadow effect.
When warm moist air rises over the mountains...
its water vapor condenses into rain or snow.
The mountains catch all the moisture,
so the air reaching the other side is dry as a desert.
Look out below!!
It's not fair! Why should the mountains get all the water!
If you keep asking questions, Phoebe. You'll find an answer!
Oh, and there's the perfect parking spot! Hold on tight!
Field Trip Tip Number 63, "ln the event of a rapid loss of altitude
you may want to put on a parachute." Liz, my parachute.
That's not a paraCHUTE, that's a pair-a-SHOES!
Look at this place!
Whew! The Thermoprobe reads 1 07 degrees Fahrenheit! That's HOT!
How can anything live here?
Is it just me? Or does this look like the "Final" field trip.
Come along, class. We're here to experience the desert!
Take chances! Make mistakes! Get dusty!
Field Trip Tip Number 87...Not a problem!
Come on, you guys. Students Against Desert Scarcity, remember?
We've got work to do!
Desert Scarcity? What about Dessert Scarcity? I'm hungry!
Hey, Arnold, where are those Malloblasters?
I'm afraid they've melted.
How can you even think about eating
when all these poor little animals are suffering from hunger?!
The only poor little animals I see...are US!
There's one!
Why that's a collared lizard!
And that's a funny-looking bird!
That, Keesha, is a fine example of a hungry roadrunner chasing a delicious lizard to eat!
Come on! We have to protect that lizard!
At my old school, lizards never ran on their hind legs!
Quick, everyone, back in the bus!
Phoebe. What are we doing??
How would you like to be a lizard being chased by a hungry roadrunner?
A situation worth exploration, Phoebe!
Wow, cool, we're shrinking
As I always say...'when the going gets hungry, the hungry get going.'
Bad oh bad oh bad bad bad.
And getting worse! It's gaining on us!
I hate field trips where we get eaten!
Any minute now, we're going to know what it feels like to be EATEN!
Field Trip Tip Number 107:. To avoid being eaten become inedible.
WHAT's THAT MEAN?!!
Class? Do I hear a suggestion to avoid digestion?
According to my research, Arnold,
it means we ought to become something that's not very appetizing.
On the button, DA! One inedible horned lizard coming up!
Phew! Close one!
Well, first-hand experience tells us roadrunners don't like lizards with spikes!
Would you?
So, the little animals here have special ways to avoid getting eaten
Iike running fast or being prickly...
Phoebe, that's right!
Which means they don't need your help, Pheebs.
Are you sure about that? Life is tough in the desert.
Don't we know it! It's too hot to chase after animals!
Or to be chased! Phew! I'm burning up!
Exactly! And somewhere out there is a poor little animal which is burning up, too!
Now come on, we've got to find it and help it!
Stop the bus, please.
Everybody out!
Not again.
Single file, class.
I'm hot!
I'm tired!
I'm hungry!
I'm prepared.
Phoebe, we've been looking and looking...and we haven't found anymore animals.
None, Phoebe. And I'm burning up!
Me too!
You're hot! What about that poor little jackrabbit?!
See? It's sitting there with the sun beating down on its head! And it's wearing a fur coat.
Field Trip Tip Number 1 58
when the sun is beating down on your head, put on a hat. Got that covered.
Thanks, Arnold!
Hey!!
Here little jack rabbit. This will keep you from getting too hot...a nice hat to shade your--
Phoebe
Arnold! Now how will that jackrabbit keep cool?
Well...
EAR-conditioning, Phoebe!
EAR-conditioning! Good one, Ms Frizzle!
Thanks, Carlos
Carlos! How can you joke at a time like this?
According to my research, it's not a joke, Phoebe!
You know how a car radiator cools off hot water from the engine...
some desert animals have big ears which do the same thing.
When their warm blood moves through their big ears, it gets cooled off in the same way!
Stay cool.
Come on, Pheebs, just admit it.
The lizards don't need your help and neither do the jackrabbits.
Okay. So the jackrabbit has a way to keep itself cool. But what about that!
That is a desert tortoise! You don't usually see them out in the heat like this.
See? An animal in need! Come on! We've got to help it!
We do?
Carlos, don't be so selfish
How would you like to be a tortoise roasting in the hot desert sun?
I wish you hadn't said that...
As I always say, there's more than one way to beat the heat!
Oh, no!
So THlS is what it's like to be a desert tortoise!
Where are we?
In a tortoise burrow. An underground shelter.
It's A LOT cooler down here.
Ah! Good observation, Keesha!
Yes! Another animal that can keep cool without your help, Pheebolino!
But Carlos! I just thought of something!
Maybe the reason we didn't see any animals is because they all burned up before we got here!
I knew it! We're too late!
What's happening?
Class, the bus is now on automatic turtle!
We're being pushed by another desert tortoise!
Are we still in the desert?
Wow, what happened?
The sun went down and the desert has totally changed!
Oh Carlos look! How sweet, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen...
Hey! We weren't too late! The reason we didn't see any animals is
because they were just waiting for the sun to go down!
50 degrees Fahrenheit! You don't have any sweaters in that knapsack, do you Arnold?
Once the sun goes down, the air cools off.
Field Trip Tip Number 257:.
To beat the heat do like most desert animals...come out only at night.
There you have it, Phoebe. Another way desert animals help themselves!
It's okay, Phoebe. There's nothing wrong with being wrong.
As I always say, 'Make mistakes. Make mistakes. Make mistakes.'
It's the best way to learn something.
But, let's face it - Students Against Desert Scarcity is a bust.
Okay, Carlos. Okay. You don't have to rub it in
I might have made a mistake about that lizard.
And I might have made a mistake about the jack rabbit.
And I even might have made a mistake about the tortoise.
But there's one thing I know I'm not wrong about...
How much you wish you'd stayed home today?
No. How much everything here on the desert needs water!!
You're telling me!
Thanks, Ralphie.
Phoebe!
Well, if no one's going to help me give water to all these poor little animals..
I'll just do it MYSELF!
Phoebe! Where are you going?
I said I was going to give these poor animals water, and I'm going to...
Phoebe, I know this may sound crazy, but hear me out.
Okay, Carlos - I'm listening.
These animals didn't need your protection from being eaten
or from burning up in the sun, right?
Right...
They can cope. Right?
Right...
Well, maybe they don't need your water, either.
Carlos, HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT??
You KNOW there's no water in the desert.
You said so yourself. Rain shadow...remember?
But look at them. They couldn't live without water.
And they are definitely alive. They must get it somehow.
Okay, then, if you're so smart, tell me HOW!
Come on, Carlos, take chances, get messy, make MlSTAKES.
I...I don't know.
Exactly. Maybe people like me come out here and give the animals water.
Maybe people like me keep these animals alive.
Hey, at least save the water for the animals...
What are you talking about?
Didn't you just splash me?
Is that... rain??
Everyone back on the bus!
Rain?
In the desert?
It doesn't rain here very often class, but...
as I always say, not very often is a long way from never!
And the desert is a long way from needing my water...
And we're a long way from the bus. Come on, Phoebe!
Doesn't it feel GREAT? NOW we're talking WATER.
It's amazing. We went from absolutely no water to....FLOOOD!
Good morning, class! Everything's right as rain!
Where are we?
What happened to the desert?
Is this a dream?
No, Phoebe, it's the desert after a rainstorm.
Everything's changed. There's so much activity.
What happened to all the scarcity? Look at all these plants and animals.
Desert life never ceases to amaze me!
Do you see what I see? Flower power!
It's as if they were waiting for enough water to bloom.
There are shrimp in this puddle!
Shrimp? In the desert??
Ah huh and pigs too, look!
Actually that's a peccary, a desert relative of pigs.
And this cactus is full of water!
According to my observations, this piece of cactus is juicy on the inside
and waxy on the outside.
Hey...maybe that waxy stuff keeps the water in.
As I always say, when it pours, the desert stores.
You know, Phoebe. You were right.
The desert does need water.
And the animals need protection from being eaten and from the heat.
Yeah but Carlos, you were right too.
They don't need us to help them. They're already equipped to live here.
That's right, Phoebe.
Everything that lives here has adaptations to help cope with life in the desert.
Come along, class! Back to the bus.
You mean soaking up water as quickly as possible is an adaptation?
Absolutely correct!
And having spikes is an adaptation...
...that helps keep you off the menu.
And burrowing under the sand
and having big ears is an adaptation for beating the heat.
Yes! All the things that live here have adaptations for survival.
It makes so much sense, doesn't it?
Field Trip Tip Number 999. For those without desert adaptations
always travel with a teacher with frizzy red-hair.
Well, I have to say, except for the part where we almost got eaten...
...and the part where we almost burned up in the sun...
and the part where we almost drowned in a flood...
...my field trip manual was REALLY helpful.
So glad you enjoyed it, Arnold.
Well, now that I know that all these plants
and animals have adaptations to help them cope with living in the desert,
that gives me some time to save something else.
Phoebe, I don't think this is a...
I tell you, we've got to DO something!
Phoebe! We just DlD something!
A whole bunch of somethings!
But this time it really is an animal in need. We'll call ourselves SASH!
SASH?
Students Assisting Sleepy Heads!
CARLOS!!
He obviously has no adaptations to cope with desert field trips!
According to my research, Phoebe, hibernation lS an adaptation!
As I always say, if you can't take the heat, get out of the desert!
Is it the magic school bus?
stay tune with us and be a smart kid
Are you sure the Producer wanted this fake cactus, Liz?
I better go...
Me? At my old school, kids NEVER answered the phone. Hello...?
Is this the Magic School Bus?
Yes, but...
Good, because you see I'm starting up a new group...
Save Our Kangaroo Rats...and I want Phoebe to be president.
You do? I mean that's nice of you to say
but kangaroo rats don't need to be saved.
You mean, they have adaptations which make it possible for them to live in the desert, too?
Right. For instance, they may never take a drink in their entire lives.
They can get all the water they need from the seeds and plants they eat.
Well, do they have an adaptation to help them cope with the short nights?
Short nights?
Yeah, watching that show you'd think that night time lasted about five seconds.
Oh, well, we were a little short on time...
Ah-ha!
But just a little! We wanted to show how desert animals come out at night.
It's an adaptation, you know!
Okay, speaking of "adaptations,"
I don't know of ANY plant that grows from a seed the instant it rains.
Look, when you have a lot of information to cover in a half hour,
you don't have time to wait for seeds to grow into plants!
But they do grow very quickly in the desert.
Did you want to see the desert in full bloom after the rain or not?
Of course I did...And did you know that cactus needles are really leaves?
Is that an adaptation?
Yes! Unlike leaves, needles don't lose any water!
And you know what else? Not all deserts are hot..
Even places that are very cold are called deserts if they don't get enough rain.
Fascinating! Well, thanks for calling.
Wait! One more question! Do you actually know Phoebe?
Yes. In fact--
Could you do me a favor? Just tell her I think she's the greatest. Goodbye!
Maybe I should answer the phone more often...
THE END