Software Description

Science Seekers is software designed by Tom Snyder Productions and the American Museum of Natural History. The teacher receives a teacher guide and a disk. This program involves students in lessons on endangered species. It is designed to supplement units on ecosystems, the environment, and endangered species. The general lesson setup is that all students are placed into groups of four or five. There is an overall problem that must be solved by the end of the unit. This main problem is that populations of southern sea otters who live near Ocean City have been declining for the past few years. Students are presented with the challenge of helping to solve this problem. Along the way there are four investigations, or lessons, that must be completed. These investigations deal with the sea otter’s ecosystem, comparing their birth and death rate, and examining threats within the ecosystem. Each investigation takes about forty minutes to complete. After each investigation there is a recommended laboratory experiment. The experiments are to be done by the class or as a demonstration by the teacher. There is also a question round where students answer questions based on the investigations. Once students have completed the investigations there is a submit findings section of the software where students must decide between five causes for why the sea otter population is declining.

Accuracy of Content

The software’s content is accurate but does not give a suggested grade level. The software’s content could be used as an extension of a biology unit on the fifth or sixth grade level. Students at the middle school level will do quite well handling the content if they have had exposure to a living things unit with a focus on ecosystems. This content might be used at the fourth grade level as an enrichment activity. In science, students are instructed to formulate hypotheses and make predictions. An additional recommendation to the software would include information on how scientists go about formulating a hypothesis before they do research. Knowing about hypotheses will help students while they are learning about the different possible causes for why the sea otter population is declining.

Technical Quality

The video, graphics, and sound act as a nice motivator. Students are debriefed on the mission and given the option of reviewing some Video Archives that provide Science content needed to complete the mission. Overall, there is a nice blend of videos along with interactive questions that need to be completed before students can move to the next mission. The questions have an optional audio button that can be turned on at anytime during the questions. This option provides access to the content of the lesson to all learners.

Use of Technology

One problem with the use of technology in this particular software program is that students receive directions and important information to complete the lesson but are then sent away from the computer to work in cooperative groups. Each group of 4 to 5 relies on each other because they each receive different investigation sheets to complete. While this is certainly helpful in fostering group reliability and interdependence, the use of the technology is not as interactive as other programs. The completed task is largely done away from the computer. This software does allow for non-linear linking, as there is a brief thirty-second promotional video. Immediately following the video the student or teacher can access the Seekers Central page and go right to the step that they may have left off on.

Role of Students

The primary role of the students is to report their findings after each investigation. There is a great deal of group interaction but most of this is done without the software. They are each assigned a reading about the investigation in their groups. There are four worksheets for each investigation and they are very informative and well written. Students can learn a great deal about ecosystems just by reading the worksheets without the software. After all of these investigation sheets have been read, students return to their groups. They then fill out a Memorandum worksheet with questions on what each student has read. After all this students finally return to the software for the question round. Here any student in the group could be called to answer a question from the computer. This is one of the best aspects of the software as students have to be prepared to answer any questions that may be asked.

Role of Teacher

The software is well designed for helping teachers prepare for each investigation/lesson and lab. Teachers must order materials for the lab about 2-3 weeks in advance. For each investigation/lesson and lab there is a Getting Prepared Screen that comes up when students first load the software. In the question round after each Investigation the teacher has a limited role. There is too much interaction on right or wrong answers with only the computer. The teacher needs to be given more of a leadership role in feedback and guiding the students to further inquiry. There is an assessment that teachers can reproduce at the end of all the investigations. The assessment does build off all the investigations but may need to be modified for students below grade level. The teacher’s role is best enhanced by some of the extension activities that are included in the teacher guide. Many students will be motivated to explore ecosystems in their environment after completing this software activity and there are some great suggestions within the guide.

Classroom Usage

This software is used in small groups. In each assignment students must solve a real life science problem. This is a theme throughout Tom Snyder’s software products. In groups of four or five students work on the particular problem that was created by the Science Center. The students work away from the computer in their cooperative teams. One problem with the classroom management of the software is that the initial lessons require the entire class to come together around one monitor. This might not work well in most classes as the software handbook recommends having a large screen monitor available. Not every school has this resource. The software may be better served as part of a learning center so that groups of four or five students can review the lesson on one regular sized computer screen and then rotate to other science lessons that the teacher has prepared.

Critical Summary:

While the software does not totally immerse the student in an activity that uses technology to the fullest extent, there are still some very worthwhile benefits. Students get to see the real world application of learning about ecosystems. It does relate well to science and educational standards that all students must find a way to apply their knowledge in real life applications.

Overall Rating: 7 out of 10

Explanation of Rating

The software has some very motivating features but if there was more of a way to foster group interaction while at the computer this would bring its rating up.

| Last Revised 04-21-05 | NCies@comcast.net |