| Product Name: |
Coral Kingdom 1.1 |
| Level: |
a Year 12 class/ First Year Tertiary |
| Platform: |
Macintosh® / PC - Windows® |
| Supplied Information: |
The Coral Kingdom package offers you many ways to incorporate the software into your curriculum. The extensive, 179 page Teachers Guide is packed with ideas and activities. Transcripts of the program content allow you to turn off the sound and provide your own expert commentary. And since the topics are thematically arranged, you may select assignments that will illustrate some of the most important concepts in biology and ecology.
Features
Thematic Approach to Biology and Ecology: Created by a marine ecologist, the software incorporates a tremendous collection of original underwater photography to illustrate a thematic approach to the study of reef biology and ecology.
The software is ideally suited for units on the coral reef or to demonstrate the concepts of form and function in adaptations, interrelationships between organisms and habitat, competition, predator avoidance, energy and materials cycles and human impacts in general biology or introductory environmental science or ecology classes.
Missions: Each of the four units incorporates a hands-on activity to be completed by students--either in small groups or individually. Each mission consists of an exploratory microworld intended to stimulate the curiosity of students and to engage their interest in the natural world. The methods used by the students at the computer are much like those actually employed by a field ecologist.
Each of the four missions takes the user on a research SCUBA dive in which he or she controls the direction and pace of the investigation. The procedures to be followed and mission objectives are described in detail within the unit sections of the teachers guide and can be accessed by clicking the "?" button during a mission. An on-line notebook is provided in which students store information acquired by clicking objects on the screen during the underwater expedition. The content of the notebook may be saved as a text file, then edited or printed using a word processor program.
Sea Life Catalog: Students have access to an extensive data base which is available for reference at all times. Problems to be solved in the missions require students to conduct library research using the data base. Species entries in the Sea Life Catalog are accessed by scientific or common names. Each Sea Life Catalog entry provides information about an organism's structure, colouration, relationship to the environment, behavior, specializations and human impact. The catalog may be accessed from any map or from the slide shows by clicking on the "SLC" button. In a mission, the SLC button lights after the user has clicked on a subject on the screen. Clicking the highlighted SLC button during a mission takes the user directly to information about the organism on the screen.
Study Units: The program content is thematically presented and organized into four major units. Each unit consists of a series of multimedia slides shows and is accompanied by a research activity. |
| Possible Use: |
This product is suitable for a Year 12 class/ First Year Tertiary courses. |
| Price: |
Single Edition US$79.00; Lab Pack (5 copies)US$158.00; Lab Pack (10 copies) US$237.00 (contact distributor for other lab pack details) |
| Review: |
Coral Kingdom takes the user on a journey into the magical world of the coral reef. Coral Kingdom (although this is not stated clearly enough) is aimed at a secondary school audience and does well in relating this ecosystem to various biological principles. The exercises are simple and the information is largely accurate (the reviewer picked up only two
inaccuracies: some soft corals have zooxanthellae, and some cardinal fish are misidentified). The "slide" presentations are fairly informative although the recorded voices tend to be somewhat narcotising. The product would benefit from a couple of improvements. Firstly, some of the images are poorly rendered (too much contrast?), with either the original slide or
the post-scanning treatment wanting. Perhaps a careful look at the images would do much to improve this product. Secondly, the exercises called missions, are repetitive. In three of the four missions, users are asked to proceed through a series of dive locations on a map, and to catalogue the organisms as they are encountered. Information about the organisms is
loaded automatically into the notebook, with little thought or input from the user. More thought as to the crucial student interactive exercises would improve this product no end. The product would also benefit from a clearer set of educational objectives and a clearer manual. While the information on the biology of coral reefs is there, I can imagine teachers
having some trouble deciphering where and how to use this product with their students. |
|
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, University of Sydney |
| |
| Supplier: |
Digital Studios, 209 Santa Clara Avenue, Aptos, California 95003, USA |
|
phone: (408) 688-3158 |
| Date Record Last Modified: |
6/1/97 |
