Tropical Rainforest

1993 Aris Multimedia Entertainment, Inc. 1993 MEDIAMAX (music, videos, and still photography)

This CD-ROM product comes with no accompanying materials. It does not specify any audience but is easy enough for middle schoolers on up. It is simple enough for elementary students but would probably not hold their attention.


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Content

The program is a tour of an unspecified rainforest. At the bottom of the screen is a bar of icons controlling the movement. Clicking on the ? brings up a description of each and also gives a brief introduction. The program begins with a screen of twenty-five brief format movies of various scenes - animals, a sunset, a plateau. These movies are brief, offer no explanation, are choppy, and consist of too many alligators.

Click on the forward arrow to move on to the 100 image tour. Here are pictures and short descriptions of animals, flora, fauna, rivers, waterfalls, and deforestation. Some examples of pictures are: water lilies, jaguars, ferns, turtles, and butterflies. An example of the text is:

A key word search is available to group objects. The pictures are colorful and can be viewed close-up. Music is available but is more of an annoyance than an enhancement.

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Recommendations

Tropical Rainforest doesn't do much more than introduce the user to the region. It is not very detailed or action-oriented. It is simply descriptive. Going through the 100 slides is slow and uninteresting. Not enough information is provided for this to be a reference tool.

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System Requirements

Macintosh:

PC:

Windows:

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Other Reviews

"It's another one of their coffee table books on CD and
 that's not bad...kind of an armchair safari."  

John P. Husvar

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Reviewed by Julie Grigar, Master's student at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Texas at Austin. She is interested in working with children at either a public library or in a school setting. She is a former 7th and 8th grade Reading teacher. [Top of Page] [Index Page]