Programs mentioned in this column have not been reviewed by the International Society for Technology in Education; their appearance here does not constitute an endorsement by Learning & Leading with Technology or ISTE.

By Judi Mathis Johnson

Field Trip to the Rainforest Deluxe

The features in the new Field Trip to the Rainforest Deluxe from Sunburst/Tenth Planet lend themselves nicely to student-created reports and classroom assessment. Using the program, students in Grades 4 through 8 travel to tropical rain forests in South America, Africa, or Southeast Asia. They explore the forests from floor to canopy, meet many forest inhabitants, and learn about the role of the rain forest in global society. Students capture images and write in their journals. They access the included field guide to discover the habits and characteristics of exotic animals and lush vegetation. Terms in the guide are defined in a glossary. Specify Macintosh or Windows platform when ordering this $99.95 CD-ROM package, which is complete with blackline masters and classroom activities, from Sunburst/Tenth Planet, 101 Castleton St., Pleasantville, NY 10570-3498; 914.747.3310 or 800.321.7511.

Evolution of Man
Animals on the Move

Expert Software has two new titles worth examining—Evolution of Man and Animals on the Move—developed by Maris Multimedia (the company that produced RedShift). Both titles contain interesting information and stimulating narrations, and multiple menu selections allow students to access the same information from different points of view. For example, a visual display of the evolution of primates links to text on the primates. Periods of time also link to text on the primates, as well as the pictures. It would be nice to have a text toggle for the narrations so students could study and question the information as it is delivered. Evolution of Man introduces the theories and major discoveries that together create an interesting story of human development over the centuries. Animals on the Move focuses on the biomechanics of animal movement and uses more than 250 video excerpts from the BBC Natural History film library. For more on anthropology or biomechanics, consider these $14.99 hybrid Macintosh/Windows CD-ROMs from your local retailer.

WebPainter 2.0

Do your students have Web-page fever? If so, then consider WebPainter 2.0 from Totally Hip Software. This program has tools for creating Web pages and animations from scratch. Now for the exotic terms: WebPainter includes onion skinning, foreground and background layers, a cel strip window, multiple cel editing, custom color palettes, a new inspector window, and enhanced transformation tools. Suggested academic price is $59.95; specify Macintosh or Windows 95. For more information, contact Totally Hip Software, 1040 Hamilton Street, Suite 201, Vancouver, BC Canada V6B 2R9; 604.685.6525.

Ocean Expeditions: El Niño

Tom Snyder Productions has released Ocean Expeditions: El Niño, a new science CD-ROM for Grades 6 to 12. This CD-ROM was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and NASA and developed by Planet Earth Science. To begin, students board a virtual research ship in the 21st century and work in groups of four in the roles of navigator, communications expert, data collector, and data analyst. Using an array of scientific tools aboard their ship, the students must determine whether an El Niño weather pattern is forming. This Macintosh CD-ROM costs $99.95 and includes student reference books, a teacher’s guide, and an electronic tour for teachers.

Interactive Earth

More than 25 lessons are included in Interactive Earth, a new Macintosh CD-ROM from WorldLink. The principal themes with this package are energy, patterns of change, scale and structure, stability and equilibrium, biological diversity, humans and the environment, global connections, and planetary stewardship. The rich collection of visuals teaches about the earth through global trends, a media library, a 3-D globe, and a NASA astronaut-guided tour. A portfolio tool will help students create custom slideshows from the stunning images. The CD-ROM and curriculum guide cost $89.95 and are available from WorldLink, 3629 Sacramento St., San Francisco, CA 94118; 415.931.6952.

Liftoff to Lizard Island

Liftoff to Lizard Island is designed to teach children ages 5 through 8 how to surf the Web. The suggested retail price for this CD-ROM is $38.95, and it can be purchased directly from APTE by phone (800.494.1112) or by mail (APTE, 1840 Oak Ave., Suite 320-S, Evanston, IL 60201). APTE also produced the Internet Coach; a version is available on Microsoft’s Internet Solutions for Educators CD-ROM.

SETQuest: Career Discovery in Science, Engineering, and Technology

SETQuest: Career Discovery in Science, Engineering, and Technology is a package designed to stimulate student interest in science, engineering, and technology careers. Useful to college counselors, high school summer programs, city libraries, and more, this package presents information on such careers to inspire and help students make critical decisions about their educational and professional futures. Among the 32 careers are microbiologist, architect, robotics scientist, and urban planner. Interactive videos and animated simulations let students spend a “day on the job,” tackling the challenges and decisions faced by professionals in the selected field. A job information bank offers information about career prospects, salaries, and required educational background for 120 careers. The complete package of eight hybrid CD-ROMs costs $999; the set contains four volumes of two hybrid CD-ROMs each for $299. For more information, contact Learning in Motion at 500 Seabright Ave., Suite 105, Santa Cruz, CA 95062; 800.560.5670 or 408.457.5600.

Kid Pix Studio Deluxe

Once Craig Hickman created Kid Pix, children the world over began creating pictures on their computers. Kid Pix Studio Deluxe is the newest CD-ROM version based on the original one-disk delight. In addition to slideshow capabilities and the moopies and wacky brushes of previous versions, the new program has text-to-speech, e-mail support, and even more stamps and backgrounds. Children from preschool through middle school can create a card, have it read “Happy Birthday” aloud, and send it to a friend anywhere in the world. Kid Pix Studio Deluxe supports JPEG, GIF, PCD, BMP, and PICT files. Of the 2,500 rubber stamps, 330 are animated. The Windows 3.1/Windows 95/Mac/Power Macintosh hybrid CD-ROM from Brøderbund, a division of The Learning Company, is only $29.99—a great investment.

Copyright © 1998, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.