3-D Body Adventure

Publisher: Knowledge Adventure, Inc.

Reviewed by Sandra L. Collins

SCHOOL SUBJECTS: Science and Human Anatomy Studies

GRADE LEVEL: 3-5

PLATFORM USED FOR EVALUATION: Macintosh Power PC.

HARD DISK OR CD-ROM?: CD-ROM

TIME TO PLAY: The time to play could vary greatly. If the player only desires to study one body part, then it could take only about fifteen minutes. Or, if they decide to explore the program in it's entirety, several hours could be consumed. I would say that the average time to play is about one hour.

RATING: I would rate this game an 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROGRAM:

All of the five study areas can that can be accessed from the main menu.. They are all are quite interesting and informative.

Let us first explore the 3-D Body Theater. In this window, the player of the game can explore many things. Children can see and hear about the different parts of the body. If they choose to , and have 3-D glasses, the can strap them on and see 14 different body parts in 3-D, right on their screen! This is very exciting, and can be very effective method in teaching students about their body parts, in a way that is fun! The player of the game can also choose to watch the images rotate, as they learn about them. This is a sample screen from the 3-D Body Theater:

Another interesting window to visit is the 3-D Body Models. In this workshop, students can explore the different layers of the human body, and learn about each one as they go. The 3-D bodies can be either male or female, and can be rotated 360 degrees. The student can also choose a specific part of the body, and it will come up on a smaller side screen, also in 3-D. This helps also, in making this program a great learning tool.

The Visible Body, another window in this program, is not as graphic as the others, but just as exciting. In this part of the program, the student can visit the human body, at a cross sectional view. They can choose any part of that cross section and see the names of bones and muscles. This is fun, but no use for your 3-D glasses here.

There are also two games which the students can play, both that are informative, and fun. They effectively teach students about body parts, but in a fun way. The first of 2, called the Body Recall Game, is a lot like memory. The students match the names of the body parts to pictures of those body parts. As the students get better, the parts get more confusing, and the game much more challenging. The second game, called The Emergency Room, is much more exciting and interactive. Here the students play the doctor in an emergency room. The student has to go inside of the patients body, find what ails them, and zap it. This can either be played with the mouse, or the arrow keys on the keyboard. It was easier for me to control it by using the keyboard, but it moves a lot more slowly. The student is the take caution here. If they can not find what ails the patient in a certain amount of time, the patient can slip into critical condition!

EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAM:

The content of this program, in general, is clearly represented. It was very easy to understand and to follow. The only aspect of the program that was confusing to me was The Emergency Room. While floating through the patients bodies, I could not understand exactly what I was supposed to be zapping. Many times the computer said to me, "Oh no! You zapped a red blood cell!" or "Oh no! You zapped....." I think that this could have been better explained, and thus easier to follow. This is a racial and gender neutral program.

There is one area when the female anatomy can be explored, along with the males, but it is important that children know the anatomical differences. The program does not exclude either races or genders.

I think that this program is fun to play, and could be used in a variety of educational settings. If I were teaching children about human anatomy, I would want this tool by my side, certainly!

APPLICATION OF THE PROGRAM:

This program could and should be used in classrooms around the world. It could be a great tool to use to teach students about their insides, and what they are made of. I think that this could be used in many science classes to make learning fun! If I were to use this as a tool in my classroom, I would probably devise some sort of a question and answer sheet so that the students would have to explore the aspects of the program and show me what they have learned. If I am ever to teach science, I will definitely try to work this program into the curriculum of the class.