Pros: Educational, Fun with interactive games to expand a child's knowledge about dinosaurs
Cons: Limited locations, more facts should be given
The Bottom Line: Kids who love Magic School Bus, and dinosaurs, will find this CD-ROM an excellent educational program to learn about prehistoric creatures. Although not the best, it's definitely a good one.
paulphoto's Full Review: Microsoft Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Explor...
Educational CD-ROMs for kids are becoming more affordable than ever. Today, there are an array of educational CD-ROMs to choose from, for kids from pre-school to high school. In particular, the Magic School Bus (MSB) CD-ROM, based on the popular TV series “The Scholastic’s Magic School Bus” with Ms. Frizzle and her class (Wanda, Arnold, Tim, Ralphie, Carlos, Keesha, Phoebe, Dorothy Ann and Liz—the lizard), is loaded with fun activities and education.
The MSB CD-ROM “Explores in the Age of Dinosaurs,” created by Microsoft for kids age 6-10, is based on the Magic School Bus book series written by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen.
I bought the MSB package that contains 2 CD-ROMs (Dinosaurs and Inside the Earth) for $7.99 for my boy who is now six years old. This is quite a good bargain, considering the education contained in these 2 CDs. It is a great educational software package for kids to learn about prehistoric creatures and the geological formation of our earth. My son loves these two CD-ROMs, especially the dinosaurs. The CD-ROM is available in PC or Mac version.
System Requirement
For PC version, system requirement is as follows:
Windows 95/98/NT 3.51 or higher
CPU: 486 processor 33 MHz or faster
RAM: 8 MB
Hard Drive: 6 MB free space
CD-ROM Drive: 2x or faster (reading speed)
Monitor/Video: 256 color
Speaker or headphone required
Mouse required
The software should also run on Windows 2000/XP/ME. It runs on Windows 2000; I have not tested it on XP or ME but believe it should be compatible.
Installation
Your PC should detect and read the MSB CD-ROM once it is loaded. Installation in general is automatic, which only requires a few clicks on the mouse by following the software procedure. Click on the INSTALL icon and the program will do the rest. The software will automatically install the driver program (not the whole program) in the main drive (C, for example). If you prefer to have the program install the driver program other than in the main drive (such as D or E), you may need to click on the available option to change to the preferred drive.
Once installation is complete, the program will return with the PLAY MSB Dinosaur in place of the INSTALL icon. Click on the PLAY icon and the program will begin.
You need only install it once on your PC. The next time the CD-ROM is loaded, the driver will automatically launch the program. The CD-ROM will have to remain in the CD-ROM drive during the entire session.
Features: The Program, Education and Games
This MSB program is exclusively about prehistoric creatures, specifically dinosaurs. Your child will get to travel through time, in the magic school bus, to one of the three periods in the age of dinosaurs (Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous).
Time travel begins with the options at the school bus driver’s control panel:
1. Now: back to the classroom; present time
2. Cretaceous: Alberta (Canada) and Mongolia
3. Jurassic: Colorado, Tanzania and Tethy Sea
4. Triassic: Arizona and Argentina
Before starting the game, as with all MSB programs, your child must have a driver’s license in order to operate the “driver’s control panel.” Kids get to create their own driver’s license by typing the name and age; they also get to design their own picture with options on hairstyle, face, nose, ear, etc.
At the driver’s control panel, your child can select one of the three periods (Triassic, Jurassic or Cretaceous). Next, the location corresponding to that particular period, shown on the map on the driver’s window, must be selected. Once the course and the coordinate are laid in, the Magic School Bus slowly transforms itself into a strange pre-historic creature preparing for time travel; and thus the adventure to the age of the dinosaurs begins…
Every location in each of the three periods contains two parts: 1) facts about dinosaurs and 2) interactive games. Each game is designed to expand on the knowledge and facts about dinosaurs from the first part or just for a fun entertainment. The first part mostly contains pop-up images and some information or facts about the dinosaurs. This part is otherwise non-interactive. The game sections in most part involve good information and facts about dinosaurs that can help expand kids’ understanding.
Cretaceous Period, 70 million years before the present Alberta, Canada: Upon arrival, Phoebe, acting as the tour guide, will say a few words about dinosaurs that lived in Alberta during the Cretaceous period. One of the famous dinosaurs discovered in Alberta is called Albertosaurus. It is a distant cousin of Tyrannosaurus that lived during the late Cretaceous. (The Cretaceous period ended 65 million years ago. The complete skeleton of Albertosaurus was found in 1917.) There are a few dinosaurs (Triceratops, Albertosaurus, Ornithomimus, etc.) moving about on the screen. Click on any one of them with the mouse, facts about them will be given by one of Ms. Frizzle’s students.
In the game section, kids learn about the different sound made by a dinosaur by clicking on the image shown in the box on the screen. Select a dinosaur and click on it to hear the sound.
Mongolia: Before getting off the bus for exploration, Arnold, the bus tour guide, will give a brief introduction about the dinosaurs that lived in the desert of Mongolia. Here, at this location in this period, Tarbosaurus (related to Albertosaurus and a distant cousin of Tyrannosaurus), along with Oviraptor, is the main focus. As usual, clicking on any one of the dinosaurs shown on the screen, facts about them are revealed.
The game in this section involves learning to remember the name of a dinosaur, called the Name Game. This game will exercise a child’s short-term memory. Ms. Frizzle’s student will pronounce the name of the selected dinosaur. The child then has to reconstruct the sound by assembling the colored crystals according to the number of syllables. The child has to get it right in order to move on to the next one. It may take several trials to get it.
Jurassic Period, 150 million years before the present Colorado: Phoebe, the host, will tell us about the dinosaurs that lived in this area during this period. Dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Ornithelestes are shown on the screen. As usual, some facts about some of them are provided with the click of the mouse button.
In the game section, children get to play some nintendo-type games. Here, there is a volcano eruption and meteorites are falling from the sky. The goal of the game is to help the herbivores get food (plants) and avoid getting hit by the larva or the meteorites.
Tanzania: Wanda is the host for this tour. Upon arrival she will give a brief introduction before moving off to explore. The pattern or the procedure of the program is the same. Facts about some of the dinosaurs shown on the screen will be given with a click of the mouse button. Some of them are Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Seismosaurus, including a few pterosaurs.
In the game section, children get to play a dinosaur hunt by searching for footprints. Once the footprint is found, they get to figure out what kind of dinosaurs it belongs to. Is it a carnivore or a herbivore?
Tethys Sea: Carlos is the tour guide. In this field trip, children get to explore the marine reptiles called plesiosaurs. Kids will learn about these marine reptiles and ammonites. As usual, clicking on any of the plesiosaurs or creatures of the sea shown on the screen, facts about them will be given.
The game in this session is pure entertainment. Here kids will learn something about amorphous and transformations.
Triassic Period, 220 million years before the present Arizona: Arnold is the tour guide for this trip. The Triassic period was a harsh place for dinosaurs to live. There was only one large land—all continents joined together as supercontinent called Pangea. Some dinosaurs such as Eoraptor, Rutrodon (ancient crocodile) are shown on the screen. In most cases, click on any of the creatures will reveal facts about them.
In the game section, kids get to identify the size of dinosaurs by method of comparison. Here kids will be given two images—dinosaurs and a modern creature (or human)—and asked to identify the size of the selected dinosaur by comparing it to the modern creature.
Argentina: Our host Wanda will say a few words about dinosaurs that live during this period. Facts about some of the selected dinosaurs shown on the screen will be given with a click of the mouse.
In the game section, the child gets to be a paleontologist. Here a pile of dinosaur bones is given. The goal is to use all the bones to reconstruct the dinosaur. Once completed, the constructed dinosaur comes to life and roars. A few facts about it are also given.
There is also another excellent game called the Dino Madness. This is a trivial pursuit-type game. The child has to answer questions about dinosaurs to get to roll the dice to move forward and stay in the lead or to quickly finish the game. The game is hosted by a fictional character name Baryonyx. It is one of the dinosaurs that lived during this period.
Discussion
Today, there are so many dinosaurs discovered by scientists. Some are found with only a few fossilized bones. Some are found intact with complete skeletons, or stone copies of them. Just to list a few, some of the complete skeletons found by paleontologists are Tyrannosaurus (nick named Sue, S. Dakota, 1990), Allosaurus (nick named Big Al, Wyoming, 1991; displayed at the Wyoming Geological Museum), Ceolophysis (Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, 1947). I am oddly surprised none of these are fully mentioned in this program.
The selected locations are good. However, there should be more locations to choose from for time travel and for kids to explore. Locations such as Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, etc. are all important to discoveries of dinosaurs.
Albertosaurus and Tarbosoaurus are related to the largest meat-eating dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which every kid knows. Yet the T-Rex was never directly mentioned here in the program. Being the most famous dinosaur to live in the late Cretaceous period, the program ought to say something about it. In fact, being the most understood creatures of the Cretaceous, there is no reason why it should not be included in this program. I think it is important for kids to known facts about them, rather than the fictional and misguided information given in the movies, such as Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.
There are several games in the programs that could have been improved to enhance kids’ learning skill while at the same time entertain them.
I found the bone puzzle, identification of footprints and dinosaurs size to be quite educational. In fact, any game that involves solving a puzzle is always educational.
Recommendation
I had the pleasure of watching my son using the program. While it is probably not the best one out there, it certainly has enough information for your child’s appetite. Children will learn about the different kinds of dinosaurs that lived during the prehistoric periods. If your child loves dinosaurs, this would be a great educational software program for your collection.
Explore the world of dinosaurs with the popular show's characters Choose from 7 different locations in 3 prehistoric time periods Puzzles and games te...More at Amazon Marketplace
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