Children can explore an opening illustration that shows a typical village of the selected civilization, panning left or right and selecting an item of interest to explore in further detail. Moving the mouse over the illustration will change the pointer when it touches something with more information. Students can also select the table of contents button to explore a variety of topics like food and drink, home life, work, government, clothes, farming, sickness and health, religious beliefs, etc. Buttons in the upper right corner of the screen allow switching to another civilization for quick comparisons of a topic.
The three civilizations cover most of the same topics, even
though they may appear under different titles. For example, the
topic on government in the Aztec civilization is called "Pharaohs
and laws" under Egypt and "Right and wrong" for the Vikings.
Several topics relate to only one other civilization, while some
are unique.
All information is presented as part of a graphic; so one cannot search the text. Nor does the product support printing. A "Survival Kit" icon provides basic facts about a civilization, a map, a time line, and a "how do we know?" feature that discusses archeological and anthropological questions in a way that children will find interesting and understandable. A glossary and an index are only a mouse-click away, if needed. A child's voice serves as a guide through the product and provides any help. Many of the topic screens have buttons to access videos which are QuickTime slide shows that cover particular topics in more detail.
When the youngster thinks he or she understands the civilization, he or she can play the Have You Survived? game which asks multipleİchoice questions about the civilization at three levels of difficulty. A wrong answer allows the student to go back to review the topic before trying another answer. A Mastergame level quizzes on all three civilizations with no review option. How Would You Survive? is a very interesting product, particularly useful for its target age group of elementary through junior high school students. Even adults will find it interesting and educational. Well worth the money and highly recommended!
Norman Desmarais serves as Acquisitions Librarian at Providence College. His e-mail address is NormD@Brownvm.Brown.edu
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