...unlock the classrooms ...unlock the bathrooms...
...prepare attendance sheets..
Man, l can't believe we have to do all these things before school starts£¡
And there's more£¡
There must be an easier way to get all this stuff done.
There is, Ralphie. Find another class to do it£¡
But all the other classes have done it, Wanda.
lt's our turn to open up the school.
Chill out, guys...
there must be a way to get all these chores done without actually having to do them£¡
Ay, laddie, l've been dreamin' that dream for years£¡
This just came from Mr. Ruhle.
He said he was expectin' it and asked you kids to set it up.
Oh no£¡ Not another thing to do£¡
Well, better get to work -
Ruhle's school will be open for business afore you know it.
l wonder what's in here.
Ah£¡ Good morning, class£¡
MS FRlZZLE£¡
Mr.Ruhle's new super-duper computer has arrived£¡
A computer£¡ That's it£¡ We'll get the computer to do our jobs£¡
Great idea£¡
Yeah£¡ A computer£¡
Hmmm, computers have helped men and women live in space...
doing a few chores should be a piece of cake -
make that a byte of cake£¡
Let's see, this computer is a state-of-the-art Eniac-Maniac 2000,
with a gazillion gigabyte hard drive, more RAM than a traffic jam,
and a flippity-floppity zippity-doodah floppy drive£¡
Cool£¡ Let's set it up£¡
...and voila£¡ l officially declare this baby ready for action£¡
Go ahead, Carlos. Turn it on.
Don't forget the printer£¡
Got it£¡
Uh-oh. lt stopped.
How do we make it do something?
Right now, this computer is just an idle machine -
it needs instructions to tell it what to do.
What instructions?
We can't make it do our chores, because we don't know how it works£¡
Well, we better figure it out fast£¡
What we need is someone who really knows computers£¡ We need an expert£¡
Somebody call my name?
MlKEY£¡£¡£¡
Hola, Frizzlers£¡
l was coming in early to clean out my desk when l heard your yelp for help.
Oh, Mikey, look what your big brother has for you.
Wow£¡ An Eniac Maniac£¡
Fresh out of the box£¡
We need you to do whatever you have to do so it'll do all the morning chores.
...No problem.
Mikey's a whiz when it comes to computers£¡
A chip off my own block£¡
Well, since classes start in half an hour,
l think we should take chances, make mistakes...
and let Mikey upload the workload£¡
All right£¡
Go to it£¡ Do it, Mikey£¡
You know a computer can do a lot more than just flash pictures on a screen.
Here, Carlos, attach this to the flagpole...
Aye-aye, computer dude£¡
And Keesha how 'bout plugging this into the coffee machine in the teacher's lounge?
Arnold?... This one goes to the bell.
DA, this one's for the timer on the sprinkler valve.
And who wants to connect this one to the door control?
l'll do it.
Here you go Wanda.
Mission accomplished Mikey.
All plugged in£¡
All done, Mikey£¡
Great£¡ Now greet the folks, Carlos£¡
Hi, how are ya, nice to see ya£¡
Thanks for comin' to school and enjoy your day£¡
Perfect£¡ Now...
l'll type in this...
and that... tell it to do this...
...now l'll save what l've typed...
Finito, amigos£¡ lnstructions written and stored£¡
Just click on the school icon and watch your jobs get done£¡
Hi, how are ya, nice to see ya£¡
Thanks for comin' to school and enjoy your day£¡
Way to go£¡
Mikey did it£¡
Like l always say, when you need a pro, call my bro£¡
Yeah, well, l guess l better go clean up my desk now...
Boy, l'd love to know what it's like in there.
l mean what really happens to my instructions once l've typed them in?
Ah£¡ Now there's a question we can save in a file called...
Excellent idea for a field trip
A field trip?
Sure - and why don't you go test it out?
Me??
You mean he gets to go inside the computer??
What about us?
We've got the school to open, remember?
So, Mikey - slip on these earphones for your own guided tour.
Awesome£¡ My own personal guided tour£¡
Have fun, Mikey£¡
We said...have fun£¡
Will do, Carlos.
Ready to be modified, Ms Frizzle.
Well, then, as my micro cousin Chip would say£º
to take a risk - make like a floppy disk£¡
lt's the quick way to send instructions inside.
Wah-hoooooooo£¡£¡£¡
Hey£¡ What's going on out there?
Hi, how are ya', nice to see ya'£¡
Thanks for comin' to school and enjoy your day£¡
ls it just me, or is the computer doing everything on our list all over again?
Something's definitely wrong with the computer£¡£¡
And Mikey's the only one who can fix it£¡
And Mikey's inside the computer£¡£¡£¡
Mikey...
Hi, how are ya, nice to see ya'£¡
Thanks for comin' to school and enjoy your day£¡
What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?
We have to fix it before Mr. Ruhle gets here£¡
Why don't we just turn it off?
Turn it off? We can't do that, DA£¡
Something terrible might happen to Mikey£¡ We've gotta get him back£¡
S'cuse me, laddie, but would you mind tellin' me what's goin' on here?£¡
MR. McCLEAN£¡£¡£¡
We're just experiencing a little technical difficulty,
but l'm sure it'll be fine in no time, right class?
Hmmph. Well l'd better be going to see if it's all fine in the teacher's lounge.
Mikey£¡ Mikey£¡
Ahhh£¡ A computer is complicated - he could be anywhere£¡
MlKEY£¡£¡£¡£¡
He probably can't hear you because of the earphones.
You're right, Feebs, l forgot.
Maybe Mikey did something in there that made the computer go crazy£¡
Not my brother Mikey£¡ He knows what he's doing... l think...
Maybe we better go in there and get him out before Mr. Ruhle gets here£¡
Oh£¡ What a splendid idea, Phoebe£¡
Don't you just love it when they solve problems, Liz?
Prepare to upload, class£¡
Wait a minute, we all can't go£¡
What if Mr. McClean comes back? Or Mr. Ruhle gets here early?
You're right£¡ l'll stay behind£¡
And so will Liz. See you in ''a bit'', Arnold£¡
A diskette a daskette the-bus'll-turn-into-a-floppy-disk-if-we-ask-it£¡
So this is where the floppies go£¡
To the drive-in disk-o£¡
CAR-LOS£¡
Look at that thing spin£¡
Hey£¡ What's with the metal toothbrush sliding across the disk?£¡
Ah£¡ lt's reading instructions and other information stored on the floppy disk.
lnformation stored on a disk gets changed into electrical signals
and sent on to the main part of the computer.
Um, Ms Frizzle, is that thing going to read us?
l mean, it's getting awfully close.
Not to worry, Ralphie£¡ OK Bus do your stuff.
So...where's Mikey? l don't see him anywhere.
Waitaminute£¡
Mikey was going to find out what happened to his instructions, right?
Right£¡
lnstructions are information, right?
Right£¡
And the information is in those flashing electrical signals...right?
Right£¡
So if we follow the signals - we find Mikey£¡
Good thinking, Wanda£¡ Just follow the yellow-lit road£¡
And as l always say, 'why walk when you can ride'?
Time to skateboard across the motherboard.
Wha-hah-hoooooo£¡£¡£¡£¡£¡£¡
Wow£¡ Where are we? What is this place?
lt's the motherboard, the heart of the computer£¡
lt's full of wires£¡
And the wires are carrying electrical signals
like the ones coming in from our floppy disk.
This must be how information travels around the computer. lt goes...
...Electricity Express£¡
Simply electrifying, isn't it, class?£¡
The information is heading for that big square thingy in the middle of the motherboard£¡
Maybe Mikey's in here£¡ C'mon£¡
Nope£¡ No Mikey.
What's going on in there anyway?
lt's all wires and lights£¡
This part of the computer is in charge of everything that happens inside.
lt handles every bit of information that comes in - and goes out.
You mean like computer headquarters?
Just like the principal's office£¡
Which is why it's called the Central Processing Unit - or the CPU for short.
Gee, the information doesn't stay in the CPU very long.
lt gets sent right back out again.
So Mikey must have come to the CPU...
then gone someplace else.
C'mon, let's keep following the information...
he's gotta be in here somewhere£¡
Bravo£¡ You have just entered the computer's random access memory -
also known as RAM.
A computer can't follow a list of instructions if it can't remember them.
These RAM chips hold the instructions while the CPU follows them.
Cool£¡
Hi, how are ya, nice to see ya'£¡
Thanks for comin' to school and enjoy your day£¡
What's goin' on 'ere?
The entire school's gone wacky£¡
Whoaaaaa£¡£¡£¡
One thing about being in Ms Frizzle's class...it's never boring...
OH NO£¡£¡£¡
Hey, guys, guys, you gotta do something quick£¡
No, that's not the way to get information into the computer£¡
l know£¡
Help£¡ Mr. McClean is up the flag pole and the buses are coming£¡
Carlos? Mikey?
Heeelllppppp£¡£¡£¡£¡
Hi, how ya', nice to see ya'.
Thanks for comin' to school, enjoy your day.
Hurry up in there£¡£¡
What's the problem, Arn?
What's the problem?
Flags are flying, bells are ringing, kids are coming--
Kids are coming??£¡
They're here now£¡
That means Mr. Ruhle won't be far behind£¡
Got'cha£¡
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa£¡
We know Mikey's in here somewhere.
The question is, where?
Well, he's not in the floppy disk drive or the CPU.
Wherever he is, we've gotta find him fast£¡
lt's almost time for school to start£¡
Where else does the information go?
Wait wait wait£¡ Mikey said he stored his instructions permanently, remember?
You're right, Wan£¡ So where in this computer does information get stored?
Ah£¡ Excellent question, Carlos£¡
You store information you want to keep in the hard drive£¡?
The hard drive£¡? Where's that?
Oh£¡ l think it's that way£¡
Alright£¡
Welcome to the Hard Drive, where disks are hard instead of floppy.
This is the place where instructions and other information are stored
so they can be used again and again whenever they're needed.
Hey Mikey£¡
l don't think he can hear us.
Let's get down there£¡
Carlos£¡ What are you guys doin' in here?
We've been looking all over for you£¡
Something's wrong with the computer£¡
Wrong?
But l've been all through this computer, and it's working great£¡
The information's coming rom the keyboard and the floppy disk
and getting changed into electrical signals
just like it's supposed to...
...and the CPU's deciding what to do with 'em.
Everything's A-Okay in here.
But it's not okay out there£¡ We need to get out of here now£¡
The computer's doing our jobs over and over again
No sweat£¡ Since computers send information out as well as bring it in,
we'll just go out with the output.
Quick£¡£¡ This information's on its way out to the printer.
Let's go with the flow£¡
Coming, Ms Frizzle?
Try and stop me£¡
Wah -ha- ha- hoooooooo£¡£¡£¡£¡£¡
We're getting printed£¡
Okay, Bus- do your stuff£¡
You're back£¡ You're back£¡ You're back£¡ Thank you.
Get a grip, Arn£¡
Hi, how are ya', nice to see ya'£¡
Thanks for coming to school and enjoy your day.
You weren't kidding. lt is going crazy out here.
The flag is going up again.
And again£¡
And the sprinklers are flooding the lawn.
And Mr. Ruhle will be here any minute£¡
Well, don't pout - we're going to figure this out.
What are you doing, Mikey?
Printing out my program.
Program? What's a program?
Over to you, Ms Frizzle£¡ Give 'em the hype while l type.
My pleasure, Mikey.
A computer is just a machine -
it needs instructions to tell it what to do and how to do it.
That's what a program is - a list of instructions the computer understands.
And if there's even one teeny-weeny mistake in the program -
everything goes kaflooey£¡
So you think maybe you made a little mistake in what you told the computer to do?
Me? Mistake? l doubt it, but there's a first time for everything.
Here's your program, Mikey£¡
Hmmmm. Looks good to me...
unlock and open the doors... Raise the flag... Turn on the sprinklers.
Turn off the sprinklers... recorded message...
printer... coffee machine... bell...
But what's this?
Repeat everything every minute, except on Saturday and Sunday.
Every minute? lt's supposed to say every day£¡£¡£¡
l...l made a mistake£¡
lt's the only way to take chances and get messy£¡
No wonder everything's turning on and off every minute.
The computer's doing just what you told it to do in the program£¡
Which is all computers ever do, right?
lf we program them correctly, they do what we want.
But if we put garbage in ...we get garbage out£¡
Yeah - a computer is only as smart as the person who puts in the instructions.
l can fix this in a jif.
l'll just change the word ''minute'' to ''day'',
and store this new, improved program in the hard drive.
Finito, amigos. Let's test it£¡
We're up and running£¡
Good morning, everybody£¡
Mr. Ruhle£¡
Hi, how are ya', nice to see ya'.
Thanks for comin' to school and enjoy your day£¡
Hmm£¡ There's nobody out here£¡
What's going on?£¡£¡£¡
The school is getting ready by itself£¡
Ah, um, it's not really.
l mean, we uh...we helped it along a little.
Oh, you did, did you?
l see you set up my new computer, as l requested.
But did l say anything about programming it?
Er, ah, no...but we just thought -
Don't you know how to follow instructions?
Yes, sir, and so does your computer£¡
ln fact, that's all it knows how to do.
That computer is only as smart as the instructions you give it.
And Mikey gave it some good ones£¡
And am l supposed to be pleased with this? Because l'm not.
l'm thrilled£¡
All right, laddies, l've had it with your bright ideas£¡
Mr. McClean£¡
Mr. Ruhle£¡
Would ya like some coffee, sir?
Thank you, Mr. McClean.
Just think, thanks to Ms Frizzle's class,
we'll never have to make coffee ourselves again.
We won't?
Nope, the computer is going to do it£¡
lt is??
Of course it is£¡ We had a few problems at first but...
But where would we all be if no one ever made a mistake, right class?
Right Ms Frizzle£¡
You know, Liz, l'm glad we did the Computer' show.
l mean, how often do you get to see how a computer works from the inside?
Hey, do you think that thing could get me a cup of coffee?
Magic School Bus, the producer speaking.
Hi£¡ l just watched your 'Computer' Show,
and l was wondering,
can you really see the information travelling around inside a computer?
l wish you could -
but the information gets changed into electronic signals that are invisible.
So how come we saw the information as flashes of light?
lt was our way of making the electronic signals visible.
And then we slowed them down so the kids could follow them.
So is the fact that electrical impulses travel so fast
why a computer can follow instructions so quickly?
Right as RAM£¡
The computer can read information
faster than you or l could read it - or type it - or even think it£¡
Okay, l buy all that -
but can you really make a computer do jobs like the kids did?
Sure£¡ Since computers can turn switches on and off,
anything that can be run by a motor can be run by a computer.
Although, there are a lot more steps to running a program than we had time to show,
the idea is the same.
You give the computer instructions through the keyboard or floppy disk...
...the CPU in the motherboard makes decisions based on the instructions...
...and the computer stores them so it can use them
over and over as needed.
But the inside of a computer is a lot more complicated than the one you showed.
Yes, but the parts are all basically the same - disk drive, motherboard...
CPU...hard disk... Thanks - l get the picture. Bye£¡
Oh, thanks, but l don't really want it anymore...
Joke£¡
Mmmm£¡ That computer makes a great cup of coffee...£¡