The Magic School Bus Cracks A Yolk
Original airdate: September 20th, 1997
Subject: Eggs and Reproduction
Focus Student(s): Dorothy Ann, Arnold
DA was put in charge of watching the principal's rooster, but loses him in a matter of hours. When she has to explain what happened, as well as how she wants to get him a new pet, the class reveals how they learn about reproduction.
Producers Segment
The male producer answers the questions about the episode while Liz decides to build a device to incubate and hatch a chicken egg.
Tropes
- Badly Battered Babysitter: Chicken-sitter in this case. DA's charge goes missing within minutes of Mr. Ruhle putting her in charge.
- How We Got Here: The episode starts as Dorothy Ann is trying to hatch the chick, and she has to explain to Mr. Ruhle exactly what happened.
- It's All My Fault: Dorothy Ann blames herself for losing Giblets, and why she wants to get Mr. Ruhle a new chicken.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: DA telling Liz to grab Giblets from Ms. Frizzle's hat, frightening the rooster into flying away.
- No Sympathy: Subverted. You would expect Mr. Ruhle would be furious to hear about D.A. losing his pet by accident. Instead, he listens to the class's story with patience, asking them details about the chickens' oviducts and their field trip. Mr. Ruhle is actually amused by the antics that they suffered in their journey to get a fertilized egg. It's implied that he pretends to not believe the story about the bus, and claims he knew the kids were messing with him as soon as Giblets returns to his arm.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Mr. Ruhle pulls off a spectacular one by pretending to be skeptical about the Bus's capabilities (including the ability to transport its occupants into a hen's ovary), so as to sufficiently guilt-trip Ms. Frizzle's class over Giblets flying the coop. It also gives him Plausible Deniability about Ms. Frizzle's abilities if anyone were to ask questions.
- This Is Reality: And Mr. Ruhle has to deliver it. He tells the class that a fertilized egg takes 21 days to hatch, which means he'll have to wait a long time for his Replacement Goldfish chicken. Lucky they have a Magic School Bus up their sleeve that can manipulate time locally.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Mr. Ruhle, who is calm despite receiving the bad news that DA lost his pet. He also points out to the class the realities of having to hatch a chick, and listens to their story of going inside a chicken.
- Replacement Goldfish: DA for most of the episode is trying to hatch a new chicken for Mr. Ruhle after losing his rooster. Just as she succeeds, Giblets returns to Mr. Ruhle's arm.
- Ship Tease: Dorothy Ann kisses Arnold, and he blushes!
- Sweet and Sour Grapes: Thanks to Ms. Frizzle and the bus, the Replacement Goldfish chick that DA has acquired hatches. When she presents it to Mr. Ruhle, however, Giblets flies into the classroom, to Mr. Ruhle's shoulder. Ms. Frizzle then gives permission for the class to keep the chicken as a second pet, and they start suggesting names.
- The Talk: Played with. Despite going into minute detail of how a chick (and, by extension, any embryo) develops from or within an egg, the episode manages to remain incredibly vague on exactly how the egg got fertilized in the first place. The only indication is that the fertilized egg came from a chicken coop that also had roosters inside.
- What Were You Thinking?: The class asks DA this the minute Mr. Ruhle leaves on his vacation.
- You Didn't Ask: The chicken farmer that the class visits points them in the direction of the chicken pens, but doesn't tell them that if they want fertilized eggs they should visit the pen with roosters. The class has to figure it out for themselves.
