Tasa Graphic Arts, Inc. - Earth's Atmosphere and Its Seasons CD-ROM Review

Earth's Atmosphere and Its Seasons CD-ROM Review

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Children's Technology Review

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Children's Technology Review
Spring 2005 Issue

Back to Earth's Atmosphere and Its Seasons

From Computer Shopper - Britian's Biggest Computer Magazine
PRICE: $59(around £32)
ISSUE: 227 DATE: Nov 06

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.