From Computer
Shopper - Britian's Biggest Computer Magazine
PRICE: $59(around £32)
ISSUE: 227 DATE: Nov 06
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Earth's
Atmosphere and Its Seasons
One of the key ideas in understanding global warming
is the role of the albedo - the proportion of incoming shortwave
solar radiation that is reflected back to space by clouds and by
the Earth's surface. Another is the greenhouse effect, which refers
to the way in which outgoing long-wave radiation from the Earth
is absorbed by certain 'greenhouse' gases. This software uses animation
to good effect in presenting both these ideas. |
There are two 'In the Lab' sections to this
program, each presenting a virtual experiment. The first looks at
the sun and the seasons, while the second explores the influence
of colour on albedo by simulating shining a light on two containers
coloured black and silver. You must read a thermometer placed in
each container at one-minute intervals. Once the table of numbers
is complete you plot the data. This demonstration and the statements
that have to be completed by choosing the correct word are an excellent
learning aid.
The presentation has 456 slides. As well as a menu divided into 12
sections, there's a useful visual index that enables users to go
directly to slides of interest.
By Janet Swift
From the Children's
Technology Review
Spring 2005 Issue
Volume 14, No. 1, pg. 18
Children's Technology Review
http://childrenstech.com/
Earth's Atmosphere and Its Seasons
Rating: 4.5
Publisher: Tasa Graphic Arts, Inc.
Website: www.tasagraphicarts.com
Phone: 575-758-5535
Copyright: 2005
Price: $59.00
Platform: Macintosh, Windows
Age range: 10-up
Grades 5-12
"The United States has the widest variety of weather of any country in the
world" according to this collection of 12 classroom-friendly narrated lectures,
on one CD-ROM. From the main menu, students choose a topic, which then starts
the lecture. Because each slide is numbered, from 1 to 456, the main menu also
lets you type a slide number, to jump instantly to the slide - a small but important
(and teacher friendly) feature. There are mini quizzes and mini lab activities
every ten or so slides, as well as sound recordings, movies and charts. Clearly,
the folks who made this are very familiar with the task of teaching students
about weather. This CD would work for self-directed study, but is ideal for classroom
demonstration purposes. The content is great, but the interactive features are
limited. No assessment features are built in, and there is no record keeping
or leveling. The disk autoruns, with no installation.
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