What feels like a scuzzy glob of mud?£¡
What smells like a scuzzy glob of mud?£¡
Yech£¡
And what looks like a scuzzy glob of mud?£¡
This swamp ...
that's what£¡ Yyyyuck£¡
Who needs something smelly and useless when you can have an awesome new mall instead?!
Tell me£¡
Nobody£¡
Tell me again£¡
NOBODY£¡£¡£¡
l'm ready£¡
You convinced me, Carlos. You're going to win the debate for sure£¡
Yeah£¡ And you didn't even mention all these pesky mosquitos£¡
Or the fact that it's so wet here where the river flows into the swamp£¡
Face it, this swamp is worthless£¡
Agreed£¡ Whoever you're debating doesn't stand a chance£¡
Unless you have to argue the other side -
to keep the swamp and put the mall somewhere else.
Never happen, DA£¡ l haven't lost a coin flip yet£¡
Yoooo-hoooo, claa-aaaaas£¡
You know what l saw? An Agelaius phoeniceus£¡
Huh???
A redwing blackbird£¡ ...
lsn't that exciting?
Hmmm? Hmmm?£¡
OH MY...
Something wrong, Ms Frizzle?
On the contrary, Carlos£¡ Things couldn't be more right£¡
That's for sure, Ms Frizzle£¡ And l've got it all on tape,
so Carlos can prove what a useless place this swamp is£¡
Careful, Tim£¡ That old tree looks like it could fall down any second£¡
Let's go£¡ l don't want to be late for the debate.
You won't get an argument from me£¡
Coming, Bus?
All aboard, class£¡
The WalkeRVille Town Council is now in session.
l'm Mr. Popple, your chairman.
This year, thanks to Ms Frizzle...
...the finals of the Great Debate
are being held not only to decide the winner...
but to allow the children of...
WalkeRVille a voice in our political system.
The issue to be debated is£º
Should our new mall
be built here...
...in the swamp across the river - or someplace else?
The rules are simple.
One side will argue in favor of building the mall in the swamp
...and the other side will argue against building the mall in the swamp.
Where is the other side?
At the conclusion of the debate,
the Council will vote yay or nay on the motion. Shall we begin?
l'm afraid the other side isn't here yet, Mr. Popple.
Oh...yes it is£¡
JANET???£¡£¡
My cousin never told me she was in the finals£¡
You're the other side?
The winning side, you mean£¡
Hi, cuz£¡
Excuse me, Mr. Popple. Shall l flip the coin?
Flip away, Ms Frizzle.
Whoever wins the toss argues in favor of putting the mall in the swamp.
ls that understood?
l'll call it£¡
Be my guest.
Heads or tails, Carlos?
Heads£¡
lf you say so.
Tails£¡ Oh, dear.
That means l have to argue to keep the swamp£¡
That a problem, Carlos?
No£¡ No£¡ l...l just need a little more time to prepare.
Please?
Both sides report back here at one o'clock sharp...ready to argue£¡
How could this happen, Ms Frizzle?
That was the first coin flip l ever lost. And l lost it to Janet£¡
Don't take it so hard, Carlos.
As my great great uncle Lincoln Douglas once said£º
A good debate is like a pancake - it's got to get cooked on both sides£¡
What is she talking about?
Well, l'm the one who's cooked£¡
How can l come up with any good reasons to keep the swamp
and put the mall someplace else?
Well... what about these? At least they're pretty£¡
Ah, yes, one of my favorites. The marshmallow plant.
As in marshmallows?
According to my ''Muskrat's Guide To The Swamp'',
the marshmallow plant only grows in wet places,
and it's roots are sometimes used to make a sweet syrup...and marshmallows£¡
And what do you get when you cover marshmallows with chocolate...?
Mallowblasters£¡ Yum£¡ That's good enough reason for me£¡
Oh, no£¡ Twelve o'clock£¡
l've got one hour to come up with a good argument why the mall shouldn't be built here,
and all l've got... is a plant.
What about Mallowblasters?
Arnold - Janet is sure to argue that the world's supply of Mallowblasters
does not depend on this smelly swamp.
Wanda's right. From where l stand,
l can't see one good reason to put the mall somewhere else.
Well, Perhaps if you stood over there...
...you might see things from a different point of view.
Over here?
A little more...that's perfect,
Carlos£¡ A new view of the swamp is coming to you£¡
Hit it, Liz£¡
l don't believe it£¡ l didn't get shrunk£¡£¡
Where'd they go?
We're down here£¡
l still don't see any good reason to keep this swamp£¡
Uh-oh£¡£¡
Get me out of here£¡
CARLOS£¡£¡£¡£¡£¡£¡£¡ RUNNNNN£¡£¡£¡£¡£¡£¡
Two by two please, class£¡
Where are you guys going?
Away£¡ We're being chased by a...a...
By a giant muskrat£¡
No, you're not£¡
lt's over there£¡ lt's not chasing anything£¡
lt's just building itself a new home£¡
Smile, Carlos, l think we've been Frizzled£¡
Oh no, not again£¡
ls it just me or does that bird look hungry?
Hide£¡£¡
According to my research, that was a marsh hawk.
According to MY research, that was a close one£¡
But we're safe in here£¡
Whoa£¡
What a great place to build a nest...and raise your kids
Out of sight and off the menu.
Let's go before we scare them.
lt's amazing£¡ l never realized so many creatures lived in this swamp.
Look out£¡£¡ He's gonna get us£¡
Whoa£¡ Did you guys see that?£¡
The frog just zapped the mosquito right out of the air£¡£¡
Yeah£¡ You don't want to be on the wrong end of the food chain around here -
that's for sure.
Duck£¡
Why? ls it that marsh hawk again?
No£¡ Ducks£¡
But they don't look like the ducks we see all the time at WalkeRVille Pond.
That's because these are wood ducks£¡
Was it something we said?
Let's see...
lt's just lunchtime, that's all£¡
lt says in my book that wood ducks eat mosquito laRVae.
Euuuuuu£¡£¡
Wood ducks nest in trees at the edge of swamps,
and use the swamp to raise their families.
So they need the swamp to suRVive, right?
You got it, Carlos£¡
Got anything else?
Yeah - we've got frogs and muskrats.
And redwinged blackbirds.
And marshmallow plants.
... and good places to hide£¡
But if the swamp weren't here,
the mosquitoes and dragonflies wouldn't be here either£¡
Yeah but that means the wood ducks and frogs would go hungry£¡
For them, you might even say that living in a swamp is...habit-forming.
That's it, Ms Frizzle£¡ The swamp is a habitat£¡
A place where many plants and animals find food and shelter to suRVive£¡
And some can't live anywhere else£¡
Well, if you ask me, it's much too wet£¡
Waaaaaaaaa....
Yuck£¡ Look at all this oily stuff that washed in from the river£¡
What's going to happen to it now?
Excellent question, Ralphie£¡
As they say in the swamp, ''Here's mud in your eye£¡''
Welcome to the SS Mega-Magnifier£¡
All aboard£¡
Wow£¡ This is cool£¡
l never knew the bus could do this£¡
But Ms Frizzle, shouldn't we get back for the debate?
l think l'm ready now£¡
You are?
l'm not sure about that, Carlos£¡
You need more facts£¡ So the swamp's a habitat?
l get the feeling that's not enough of a reason to build the mall somewhere else£¡
Keesha's right£¡ Janet'll say that it's still smelly£¡
Hey, wait£¡
Look at this£¡
The swamp is actually cleaning the dirty water that flows through it£¡
Strange but true£¡ The swamp plants are straining gunk out of the water£¡
The swamp helps clean the water.
Beautiful£¡
Huh, l guess there's more to the swamp than meets the eye.
Too true, Carlos£¡ There's always something new in the goo£¡
Ahhhhh...the sweet smell of swamp gas£¡
Euuuuuu£¡
Put it down, Ms Frizzle£¡
That stuff stinks£¡
Get it away£¡
Gas is right, Ms Frizzle£¡ As a matter of fact,
it smells like somebody just-- ARNOLD£¡
Maybe Arnold's right£¡ Look at all these bubbles. What's going on down there?
Yeah. What's making those bubbles?
Time to go to mega mega magnifier, Liz£¡
Awesome£¡
Gruesome£¡
What a gas£¡
CAR-LOS£¡
What are those things?£¡ And what are they doing?£¡
They're bacteria in their own cafeteria, Dorothy Ann.
And today's specials include rotting plants, fertilizer and yes, even globs of oil.
Mmmm-mmm£¡
lt's the Microbe Gang£¡ The guys we saw turning my cucumber into a pickle£¡
They're too small to see with your naked eye but they make really big changes£¡
lt looks like when they finish eating the oil, out comes the gas.
So what happens to the water once the bacteria have eaten up all the yuck?
Ahoy, mates£¡ Waterworks, dead ahead£¡
Now l see£¡ Look£¡ The water goes through the wetland, then into the river...
And then into the waterworks£¡
So wouldn't the waterworks have to work a lot harder to clean the riverwater
if the swamp didn't clean it first?
Boingo, Dorothy Ann£¡
Another reason to keep the swamp£¡
l'm really ready now, Ms Frizzle£¡
Ooooh£¡ That's great - because it's time to reinstate the big debate£¡
The swamp is much more than water and mud and plants.
...it's a wetland, a natural habitat, filled with lots and lots of life£¡
lt's a giant market where birds and animals feed themselves.
lt's where they find shelter.
Take away the swamp to build a mall, and you take away their habitat.
When winter ends, the songs of birds will be missing -
the cheerful gribet of a frog on a warm evening will be gone -
sadly, it will be a silent spring in WalkeRVille.
Oh why Carlos...that was beautiful.
Point of order, Mr. Popple£¡
l'm afraid Janet's correct, Ms Frizzle. You are out of order.
Please try to keep your remarks to yourself.
Go on, Carlos£¡
Um, well...there's one other thing you should know.
All the different plants help to filter out stuff like oil and gunk,
and teeny, tiny swamp bacteria help clean up the water
before it gets to the waterworks.
lf it weren't for the swamp, the water would look like this...
...instead of like this£¡
So in making your decision,
remember - the WalkeRVille Wetland is the best land -
not for the mall, but for the animals and plants which live there
and for all of us who drink water from the waterworks£¡
Your rebuttal, Janet?
Nice try, sport£¡
This won't take long, Mr. Popple.
First of all, where we now have a stinky swamp -
we're going to have a totally colossal new mall£¡
Five movie theatres - an ice skating rink - an amusement park -
and every kind of restaurant a person could want£¡
Why would you vote against that?£¡
Why? 'Cause our swamp is a habitat?
Come on, move the critters someplace else. Besides, it stinks£¡
l knew she'd say that£¡
Keep the swamp 'cause it filters out oil and gunk?
Gimme a break£¡ So does the waterworks£¡ You said so yourself£¡
l say, up with the mall and down with the swamp£¡
End of debate£¡
But the wood duck can't live anyplace but the swamp£¡
You're out of order, young lady£¡
The marshmallow plant can't live anywhere but the wetland, either£¡
You're out of order, too£¡ Sit down£¡
And the smell is from all the bacteria which are cleaning the water£¡
You're ALL out of order£¡ SlT DOWN£¡£¡£¡
Sorry, class, but we do have to obey the rules of the debate.
Your smelly swamp is history£¡
lt's time now to consider all the arguments.
We'll be back in five minutes with our decision.
Why do l have the feeling l should've stayed home today?
Same reason l have the feeling we've lost... and not just the debate, either...
This is about more than just a debate, Ms Frizzle£¡
Janet's wrong£¡ This isn't just a smelly old swamp£¡ lt's a wetland,
...and it's important£¡ l didn't think so at first - but l do now£¡
We can't let them put the mall there£¡
What's the matter, Carlos, afraid you're gonna lose?
By putting the mall where the wetland is, WalkeRVille will be the loser£¡
Oh yeah? Prove it£¡
Yes Liz? What is it?
What are you trying to say?
Water? What about water?
lt's raining£¡
You're thirsty£¡
You're drowning£¡
Okay, what you're trying to tell us sounds like...
Dirt£¡ Sounds like dirt£¡
Dirty£¡ Messy£¡ Yucky£¡
Mud? Sounds like mud?
Flood£¡£¡£¡
lt's a flood£¡£¡
What are we going to do?£¡ What are we going to do?
What are we going to do?£¡
Funny, l was just wondering the same thing.
Maybe there's too much water for the river to hold and that's why it's overflowing£¡
But it's rained hard before and nothing's happened. ln fact...
today, extra water coming from the river ran right into the wetland...
and took me with it£¡ Remember?
So what's stopping that from happening now?
What indeed? To the Bus£¡
Janet£¡ Where are you going?
No way you're going to find out something important without me£¡
Look£¡ That big old tree fell down£¡
lt's stopping the flood water from draining into the swamp£¡
We've gotta get that tree outta there quick before the whole town gets washed away£¡
Hang onto your socks, class,
...we're goin' down£¡
Come on, you weasly wimps...PUSH£¡
lt won't budge£¡
This tree's too heavy for us to move£¡
At my old school, we used a bulldozer to move heavy things.
That's great, Phoebe. And where are we supposed to get a bulldozer?£¡
No problem, cuz.
You ought to know by now that when push comes to shove, we've got it covered.
Right, Ms Frizzle?
We do indeed, Arnold. We do indeed£¡
WA-HOO£¡
Hit it, Liz£¡
Harder£¡ Push£¡
lt's like a giant sponge£¡
As my third cousin Al Gee always says,
''Nothing like a swamp to slow the flow of H2O£¡''
Tell me this isn't happening£¡ Tell me£¡
lt isn't happening.
lt isn't?
Nope£¡ The water level's dropping£¡
The town is saved£¡
All clear, Mr. Popple£¡ The flood's a dud£¡
And you can thank the WalkeRVille Wetland for stopping it£¡
But how?
Because the wetland is a natural flood control.
lt's a place for extra water from the river
to go and spread out.
l hate to admit it, but he's right.
Mr. Popple, if a shopping mall had stood where the swamp is now,
our great little town would have been wiped out£¡
l uh...l see that now.
Not only does the wetland control floods,
it provides a habitat for living things
that can't live anyplace else - and it helps to clean up our water supply.
l say build the mall...
WHAAAAAAAAT?????????!
...Just build it someplace other than the wetland£¡
lsn't she out of order?
She is - but she's right.
All in favor of keeping the wetland where it is and building the mall somewhere else
...signify by saying 'yay'£¡
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
As l always say, ''The wetland is the best land£¡''
Magic School Bus, producer here.
Kid, here. l've got a flood of questions.
Okay, swamp me.
ls that place called a swamp or a wetland?
ln the show you called it both.
Actually, it is both.
A swamp, a marsh, a bog --
any low-lying place that is wet at least part of the year is called a wetland.
And what about all that yuck floating around?
Surely it's not okay to deliberately dump oily water and gunk in the wetland
because the wetland helps to get rid of it.
Good point
lt's never okay to pollute.
And don't call me Shirley.
You already used that line in your Spider show£¡ Now about the floods.
Floods don't usually happen as quickly as you showed.
Water takes time to build up. Are you trying to kid us or something?
Look if there's one thing l've learned...
you can't kid a kid. Since we only had thirty minutes, we sped the whole thing up.
And does the wetland really help clean the water supply?
See for yourself£¡
Just take a glass of water...
add some dirt
...and stir it around with a spoon.
The stirring motion is like the current stirring up the mud in the river.
Then pour the muddy water into a glass baking dish.
And that's your wetland.
A dish of muddy water?
Almost. Let it sit for about an hour...
...and you'll see how all the heavy mud has settled to the bottom...
...and the water on top is a lot cleaner.
And that's one way a wetland works to clean things up.
But even though it's cleaner, you shouldn't drink the water£¡
lt hasn't gone thru the waterworks,
so it isn't safe for human...
or lizard consumption
Thanks for calling. And remember...
l know...
...the wetland is the best land£¡