Just as with the books, each episode of The Magic School Bus series is centered around a particular science topic.
Below is the list of each episode of The Magic School Bus and The Magic School Bus Rides Again by its topic, identified according to its official name as recognized by press media, official activity guides, tie-in books, production information, the Producer segments, and home video releases. Topics are sorted alphabetically, as in the leaflet for The Magic School Bus: The Complete Series.
List of topics[]
| Topic (name on The Complete Series for MSB episodes) | Episode | Episode number (aired order) | Production code
(minus MSB-) |
Other topic names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aeroelasticity | Pigs in the Wind | RA S01 E02 | 105 | Wind (Qubo) |
| Air Currents | The Frizz Connection | RA S03 E02 | 202 | |
| Air Pressure | Goes on Air | MSB S04 E04 | 042 | |
| Allergies | Carlos Gets the Sneezes | RA S01 E06 | 103 | |
| Ants | Gets Ants in Its Pants | MSB S01 E12 | 007 | |
| Archaeology | Shows and Tells | MSB S03 E06 | 032 | |
| Astronauts | Kids in Space | RA S03 E01 | 201 | |
| Bats | Going Batty | MSB S02 E04 | 022 | |
| Birds | Claw and Order | RA S02 E02 | 115 | |
| Body Mechanics | Flexes Its Muscles | MSB S02 E02 | 015 | |
| Butterflies | Butterfly and the Bog Beast | MSB S02 E05 | 016 | Butterfly Camouflage (tie-in book) |
| Camouflage and Mimicry | Hides and Seeks | RA S01 E07 | 104 | |
| Cells | Goes Cellular | MSB S04 E06 | 045 | |
| Circulation | Works Out | MSB S03 E09 | 035 | |
| Circus Math | Ralphie and the Flying Tennellis | RA S02 E09 | 122 | |
| City Critters | In the City | MSB S04 E12 | 051 | Urban Wildlife (Discovery Education)
Critters (The Magic School Bus Cracks a Yolk reverse cover) |
| Clouds | Send In the Clouds | RA S02 E08 | 121 | |
| Color | Makes a Rainbow | MSB S03 E07 | 033 | Rainbows (VHS) |
| Computers | Gets Programmed | MSB S04 E11 | 052 | |
| Coral Reefs | Takes a Dive | MSB S04 E13 | 050 | Symbiosis (Discovery Education) |
| Decomposition | Meets the Rot Squad | MSB S01 E06 | 011 | |
| Desert Adaptation | All Dried Up | MSB S01 E07 | 013 | |
| Digestion | For Lunch | MSB S01 E02 | 010 | |
| Dinosaurs | The Busasaurus | MSB S02 E03 | 017 | |
| Ecosystems | Frizzle of the Future | RA S01 E01 | 113 | |
| Eggs | Cracks a Yolk | MSB S04 E02 | 040 | |
| Electricity | Gets Charged | MSB S04 E10 | 048 | |
| Energy | Getting Energized | MSB S02 E10 | 023 | |
| Engineering | Ready, Set, Fail! | RA S02 E06 | 120 | |
| Engines | Revving Up | MSB S02 E08 | 020 | |
| Farming | Ghost Farm | RA S02 E03 | 116 | |
| Fish | In the Swim | RA S01 E03 | 101 | |
| Flight | Taking Flight | MSB S02 E09 | 021 | |
| Floating and Sinking | Ups and Downs | MSB S02 E13 | 026 | |
| The Food Chain | Gets Eaten | MSB S01 E04 | 002 | Food Chains (VHS/tie-in book) |
| Forces | Plays Ball | MSB S01 E10 | 003 | Forces and Motion (VHS) |
| Germs | Inside Ralphie | MSB S01 E03 | 012 | Human Health (VHS) |
| Gravity | Gains Weight | MSB S04 E08 | 047 | |
| Habitat | Hops Home | MSB S01 E05 | 008 | |
| Heat | In the Arctic | MSB S03 E02 | 027 | Arctic (producer segment) |
| Honeybees | In a Beehive | MSB S03 E01 | 030 | Bees (VHS/producer segment) |
| The Internet | Nothin' but Net | RA S02 E04 | 117 | |
| Kitchen Chemistry | Gets Ready, Set, Dough | MSB S01 E09 | 004 | Chemistry (producer segment) |
| Light | Gets a Bright Idea | MSB S03 E05 | 031 | |
| Microbes | In a Pickle | MSB S02 E07 | 019 | |
| Migration | Goes Upstream | MSB S03 E08 | 034 | Salmon (producer segment)
Salmon Migration (tie-in book) |
| Molecules | Meets Molly Cule | MSB S04 E01 | 045 | |
| Photosynthesis | Gets Planted | MSB S03 E10 | 037 | Plants (VHS/producer segment) |
| Rainforest Ecology | In the Rainforest | MSB S03 E11 | 038 | Rain Forest Ecology (when the episode is referred to as “In the Rain Forest”) |
| Recycling | Holiday Special | MSB S03 E13 | 036 | |
| Seeds | Goes to Seed | MSB S01 E11 | 006 | How Living Things Grow (tie-in book) |
| Smell | Makes a Stink | MSB S04 E09 | 049 | |
| The Solar System | Gets Lost in Space | MSB S01 E01 | 001 | |
| Sound | In the Haunted House | MSB S01 E08 | 009 | |
| Space Rocks | Out of This World | MSB S02 E11 | 024 | Meteors and Asteroids (producer segment) |
| Speed | Goldstealer | RA S03 E04 | 203 | |
| Spiders | Spins a Web | MSB S03 E03 | 028 | |
| Stars | Sees Stars | MSB S04 E07 | 046 | |
| Structures | Under Construction | MSB S03 E04 | 029 | |
| Tidal Zones | Goes to Mussel Beach | MSB S04 E03 | 041 | |
| Weather | Kicks Up a Storm | MSB S01 E13 | 005 |