Transportation Vacation

Inspired by The Magic Schoolbus Series

By Andrea Darr
There I was sitting quietly in my desk, anxious for another day of school to begin.
Everyday was an adventure in Mrs. Darrs class, and I couldnt wait to see what today would
bring! We were going on fieldwork to the Sage Shrublands near our school.
Next to me sat Violet and she was quickly tapping her foot, anxious in a different way.
Violet liked to stay in the classroom and take notes, because notes were safe. I on the other
hand looked for adventure and seeked it out with every ounce of energy.
Just as I was thinking about what the day would bring Mrs. Darr sprung through the door,
coffee in hand. Everyone besides Violet perked up, grabbing their field journals and rushing
towards the door. It was like a herd of Red Tailed Hawks swooping in on some prey.
Are we ready explorers?, Mrs. Darr asked in her quirky voice, coffee rushing through
her veins.
YES! yelled the class eagerly, except for Violet who shrugged.We filed into line and
quickly walked towards the front door, no bus today. Our field study was just down the street.
We walked and walked, I could feel my heart pumping blood as I briskly walked past my
classmates to the front of the line. Across the street, spread out like a portrait, laid the Sage
Shrublands that we had been studying in class. Yellow Rabbitbrush spread across the horizon,
nature filled the air, and a steady breeze traveled through my hair. The aroma of Sagebrush
strong and steady.
Violet pointed to a yellow plant as we finished crossing the street, probably because she
was allergic.
Oh MY! Mrs Darr grinned. That is Yellow Rabbitbrush!
Just then Violets face turned purple as the world began spinning around us. Not
AGAIN! she cried.
I then looked again at Mrs. Darr who was twisting her arm above her head, still grinning.
This is what always happened as the next adventure began. The spinning and then the
changing of scenery.
The Rabbitbrush began to get larger and larger, the yellow flowers left my vision. I was
shrinking and shrinking until the stem of the plant was larger than those giant Redwood Trees I
had seen on our vacation to California last summer. Violet sat on the ground covering her eyes.

Alright explorers, today we are going to look deep within this Yellow Rabbitbrush to
explore the vascular system! said Mrs. Darr with a gleam of light in her eyes.
We had been learning about many different systems and their parts that work together. I
am sure this system would blow my mind. I grabbed Violets hand and pulled her through the
group.
Eventually we shrank small enough that the we could see large trenches in the dry
alkaline soil. They stretched for what seemed like miles. Violet began to feel sick, but I
reassured her, Everything would be a-okay. Mrs. Darr had always returned with all the students
she brought on fieldwork! Violet gulped and glared, squeezing my hand tighter.
Looking around my classmates were beginning to change shape. H2O, down we go!
yelled Mrs. Darr. Just then we began to seep like water into the soil, rolling down the cracks
towards the roots of the Yellow Rabbitbrush. As Mark slammed into a root he was sucked up,
and before I knew it we were all in the roots of the plant.
We have entered the Vascular system of the plant, commented Mrs. Darr. This is the
xylem of the plant that gets water and nutrients from the roots to other areas of the plant.
We began to flow up the stem of the plant like an elevator, branching out into the plants
narrow leaves. Providing them with water and nutrients that all the parts of the plant need to
survive. Then suddenly we begin to turn into sugars at the leaves.
Explorers we are now moving into another part of the vascular system, called the
phloem. This transportation system carries sugars away from the leaves and to other cells
throughout the plants. says Mrs. Darr with enthusiasm.
We begin to slide through the phloem cells as sugar. While looking through the
transparent skin of the Yellow Rabbitbrush, while sliding in and out of cells, I spot what looks like
the Black-tailed Jackrabbit we have been learning about in class. Mrs. Darr, look at that, a
Black-tailed Jackrabbit, I shouted.
Nice spot, Mindy! she called. All of the sudden Mrs. Darr was swinging her arm around
her head again and the world around us began to change.
Great, wailed Violet.
We flew through the air into the body of the Jackrabbit. Everything around us sounded
like a heart thudding against a chest. The walls were collapsing and expanding around us.
While the rest of the class was recovering from the landing Mrs. Darr sprang up with
enthusiasm.
Explorers, meet the cardiovascular system! We have entered through the lungs and will
join the blood as oxygen! Before we knew it we were changing into blood cells, zooming
through the veins into the heart. We entered through the left side of the heart. The left atrium
and left ventricle were surrounding us as we moved through the valves. It seemed like moments
ago we had just traced our fingers through the heart, memorizing the pathways.

Next the aorta! Violet screamed in fear. She must have remembered how powerful the
artery was and was afraid of being squished. It was like a rollercoaster as we shot throughout
the body, waste and carbon dioxide clinging to us when we entered the capillaries. We then
shed the oxygen and returned to the heart. This time right atrium and right ventricle, the valves
around us opening and closing with a ...Lub, dub, lub, dub.
Soon we were back in the lungs, exhaling as carbon dioxide. As we left the Black-tailed
Jackrabbit, our bodies grew and grew. We landed back in the Sage Shrublands next to the
Yellow Rabbitbrush. Our eyes stale in disbelief.
Mrs. Darr popped up from behind the brush, Sagebrush swinging in the ends of her hair.
She smiled her quirky smile and we headed back to school in absolute silence. No one would
ever believe us.