The National Geographic Society Earth Science is a phenomenal program not only for students but teacher’s as well. NGS Earth Science is a Computer Aided Instruction software that describes and explains the importance of geology, meteorology, and oceanography of the earth. It is geared towards students in grades four through ninth. The complete program consists of five CD-Rom’s including topics on: geology, volcanoes & earthquakes, weather, climate, and oceans. There are also handouts, activity sheets, and visual aids included for each lesson.
Given in the main manual each lesson for each lesson included in NGS Earth Science, there are clearly identifiable objectives and goals. Along with suggestions for achieving these goals are materials that may be used during the course of instruction. There are also standards listed for varying grade levels. For example, in lesson 2 the Dynamic Earth there are many objectives for students. Among these include: understanding different layers of volcanoes, recognizing the forces that cause earthquakes, recognizing three main types of volcanoes, and that human activities play a role in changing and destroying the planet’s surface. After giving objectives for each section there are suggested materials and standards for each grade level. Then the manual goes into possible lessons that teachers can follow in order to see amazing results from students. One thing that I like about his is that it gives more than one way of teaching the information. With the use of lecture, diagrams, overheads, questions, and handouts all learning styles can be addressed.
Throughout the lessons included are ways for teachers to check the understanding of the students. The handouts are an easy way to quickly check which students are becoming familiar with the material and those that may need a little extra guidance. One of the last things included in the manual is a section titled "Extending the Lesson." This part is a great way to involve enrichment activities for students who may be more advanced. Finally each section gives a list of extra resources that can be used by students or the teacher in order to learn more about one of the topics covered.
The CD-Rom’s included in NGS Earth Science provide a self-guided enrichment to be use after an initial introduction by the teacher. Each CD contains two picture shows that show visual and audio information on the topic being covered. The good thing about this is that students have the ability to include captions under the pictures, to enlarge the pictures, or to stop and re-hear a section of the text. This is one sign of the great user control that is provided throughout the lessons. Each section provides a list of important vocabulary words and a quiz for students to take in order to check their understanding. One thing that I don’t like about the program however is that students have to be able to know how to copy the quiz and transfer it to a word processing document in order to complete the quiz. Throughout the program students are able to move at their own pace in order to get a full learning experience. The program provides a way to not only see and hear about the wonders of the earth but it allows them to become an active part of it.
One thing that could become frustrating for students is the quick pace given throughout the visual and audio sections. Here the program itself is more in control than the student and could prove to be frustrating if students were required to complete an assessment activity based on the material in a given time frame. One way to rectify this would be to allow students ample time to explore on their own. I think this program would work best in the classroom as an enrichment activity or if students wanted to have a better feel for one of the topics covered.
While there are many opportunities for students to make choices about "where they want to go next" the level of interactivity could be improved. NGS Earth Science is a great tool for information but could be even more useful if there were more interactions for the students. Things like activity sheets within the program or having to draw conclusions based on knowledge known would improve the quality of this CAI program a great deal. The activities that are included are sometimes too elementary and the answers are too obvious which for an older more advanced student would lessen the impact of the true power of the lesson.
One thing the program is very successful at is getting and maintaining the attention of the user’s attention. From the beginning sounds and pictures are used to convey the learning to be achieved. I think the vivid colors and sounds make the user feel challenged as they attempt to follow along and learn about the different aspects in each lesson. The programs shows the importance of learning the information and I think this is shown throughout the lessons and activities included.
Overall, Earth Science compiled by the National Geographic Society is an incredible tool for teachers in the science field. It gives ideas for lessons and includes more than just a disk to enhance learning. Using the software in the classroom would be an excellent idea especially to give students the change to explore on there own in order to achieve a better understanding on some of the earth’s most amazing devices. Overall the five disks are an accurate and exceptional comprehensive view into the earth’s true force. I think it would be very beneficial to use NGS Earth Science in the classroom and consequently hope to someday find use for it in my own classroom curriculum.
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