The authors clearly understand the importance
of detail, yet go to great lengths to avoid overwhelming the student.
An outline in the main menu allows learners to choose an area of focus.
Once there, the program explains difficult topics, such as igneous
rock crystallization, mineral cleavage directions, specific gravity,
and physical and chemical weathering, by using complicated language
and clear illustrations. The package includes useful teaching aides
such as a database of more than fifty common minerals, a glossary,
a summary of review questions (and answers), and the Rock Review challenge.
This game awards points when rocks are identified correctly. And don't
overlook the impressive use of simulated identification tools. Students
can interact with the program by using a hand lens, pouring acid on
a rock to test its makeup, or scratching a mineral's surface with
a human fingernal.
A few words of caution: the Intermediate section is much more thorough
than the Beginner section, so educators should be prepared to rely
on both levels of interactive learning. And despite the benefits of
this software package, it should serve as a supplement to more traditional
means of teaching introductory earth sciences. While the stunning
graphics and high resolution pictures catch the student's attention,
they cannot replace the simple sensation of touching minerals millions
of years old.
-- Rebekah Chace and Jason Mastrine
From Science and Children Magazine,
April 1998, pp. 49-50
The Wonders of Rocks and Minerals
shows how rocks and minerals differ, gives some important mineral
properties, and explains how igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary
rocks form. The authors have included basic facts about each group,
along with examples of different rocks and minerals. The photographs
for this tutorial are dazzling.
This is a straight "just the facts" presentation, with an opportunity
to take a quiz at the end to test one's familiarity with the material.
There is a "read aloud" function that makes the presentation easier
for struggling readers. The toggle is masked, so the teacher has some
control over its ease of use, although I suspect that the mask is
not difficult for many students to uncover.
There are two levels on this disk -- the elementary level (grades
3-6) and the intermediate level (grades 7-12). The levels differ in
the depth of the topics, and the intermediate level has an additional
66 review questions. The intermediate level also contains an illustrated
database of 50 minerals along with photographs, 3-D molecular structures,
mineral shapes, and detailed data.
This program has a great deal in common with a good beginning field
guide to rocks and minerals. Of course, the romance of the electronic
media enhances it, the pictures are beautiful, and the quiz gives
users feedback about their ability to identify rocks and minerals.
Anyone who loves rocks and minerals will enjoy The Wonders of Rocks
and Minerals, as will professionals engaged in inspiring future
geology students. Teachers of general science or lower elementary
science will probably want to preview the disk to ascertain its ability
to motivate and engage students.
-- Douglas Jenkins, teacher,
Eugene Field School, Silverton, Oregon.
From MACWORLD Magazine, August 1997,
p. 85
MACWORLD Magazine, www.macworld.com
ROCK-SOLID EARTH SCIENCE LESSONS
Your kids will have rocks in their heads after spending time with
The Wonders of Rocks and Minerals from Tasa Graphic Arts. This CD
supplements classroom studies of minerals; the rock-formation cycle,
and igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Each section ends
with review questions in which buzzers and bells let students know
when they give wrong or right answers, and the Rock Review Challenge
motivates students to test their skills in the field. The CD provides
rock-identification exercises (useful for teachers), a glossary of
terms, and a database of more than 50 minerals. Virtual hands-on lessons
-- animations, rotatable 3-D models of atoms and crystals, and an
interactive lab -- make it fun to review the various concepts. You
learn to determine a rock's luster, hardness, and specific gravity
-- all the clues good rock hounds need to start identifying mystery
rocks in their own backyard.
-- Katherine Ulrich
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