Big Science Ideas :Systems and Science In Your Ear

These two science products from MECC were released late last year. They are marketed more to schools, but are available in the MECC catalog. Although MECC has made a concerted effort to incorporate the latest science standards, these products were not all they could have been in my opinion.

Science In Your Ear is the least desirable of these two programs. This CD teaches students about ears, sound waves, air waves and how these relate to music and other technology. When your child is using the program, he has constant access to a notebook. Here he can cut and paste pictures, graphs and tables which he creates. Each area includes an interactive experiment dealing with sound waves. Although the idea of incorporating the child's work into the notebook and making the experiments interactive is a good one, I felt lost and bewildered much of the time. I never knew what buttons to click to do what and could never find my way back to where I wanted to be. I could tell by looking through the reference material that the information was well thought out. The "science" is there, but the program was not very user-friendly. Granted, there will be kids who pop in and have it all figured out quickly. If I had a hard time however, there will be many kids feeling lost as I did. No mater how good the information is, something has to keep the child at the computer screen without feeling frustrated. I don't think it would take much to improve this program, so I am hoping to see an upgrade as some point.

Big Science Ideas: Systems was a bit easier to explore and feel like I was accomplishing something. The notebook mentioned above is included in this program as well. This is a great idea, as it encourages kids to keep notes and record their thoughts and observations. Throughout each program the student must answer questions in the notebook regarding what he has learned. The toilet simulation was great. All kids wonder how a toilet works, and here they get to try it our first hand.....with no floods! By manipulating the parts of the toilet, your child can see exactly what happens. A pond simulation also allows this same sort of hands-on learning. The experiments in this program seemed easier to understand, and the program was easier to explore. I also wondered how toilets, earthquakes and ponds all fit together in the entire "world picture." The experiments were fun, but seemed a bit disjointed. It would have been helpful to hear difficult scientific words pronounced. Both programs require upper elementary reading skills and have no real auditory interaction.

Neither of these programs are worth the $69 price currently being asked by MECC and are in need of some improvements. The ideas are good, they just need to be carried to the next level.

Grading:

Educational value- 4
Entertainment value- 2 1/2
Use of medium- 2 1/2
Dollar value- 2 1/2
Age- 8-12

This product is no longer being distributed. Watch for it on sites like Ebay!