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Jan 15, 2001
Quick Pick
The Ellis Island Experience
Platform: Win CD. Price: $39.95.
Emphasis: History, social studies. Grade level: 5-12.
Publisher: SouthPeak Interactive, Cary, NC; (800) 774-6183; www.southpeak.com
Ellis Island, which served as this nation's principal immigration station from 1892 to 1954, saw millions of immigrants pass through its portals. The Ellis Island Experience, an interactive documentary, presents a wealth of information on this important place.
Narrated by Robert Siegel, Ellis Island combines period photographs, music, and audio clips with over two hours of video. It also features articles, historical documents, and audio transcripts. Interactive video segments enable viewers to experience the frustrating hurdles immigrants faced.
The comprehensive chronicle is outfitted with a slick, intuitive interface that makes it easy to explore the five information-rich modules, each consisting of several topical segments.
Interactive illustrated time lines covering 350 years of American immigration provide interesting facts about the immigration experience. An Artifact Viewer lets you examine images, memorabilia, and documents (such as Literacy Test Cards and advertisements from ethnic presses) in detail. Also included are save and print features, a glossary, and a search feature.
An Ellis Island Experience Web site, exclusively for users of this CD, offers the latest immigration news, Webcasts, a virtual jigsaw puzzle, oral histories, and a genealogy section.
Ellis Island is educational multimedia at its best. It's a great buy for any upper-elementary through high school social studies course that celebrates cultural diversity in the United States or focuses on 19th and 20th century immigration.
Evaluator: Carol Holzberg, Ph.D., technology coordinator at three schools in western Massachusetts.
The Calculator-Based Laboratory 2 (CBL 2)
Emphasis: Math and science. Grade Level: 6-12.
Price: $219, including cradle, cables, batteries, and sensors.
Publisher: Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX; (800) 842-2737; www.ti.com
Integrating science and mathematics has just become easier with the Calculator-Based Laboratory 2. The handheld CBL 2 connects to a variety of probes to collect real-time data in the lab or field. When paired with the TI graphing calculator, it also allows students to graph and run statistical analyses right at the point of collection.
This product offers a slim and light design, including a port and cradle hookup that make the calculator and laboratory device a single handheld unit. With Texas Instruments' separately sold Graph Link software, students can manipulate data on the computer, as well. Unfortunately,
the software is also mandatory for printing graphs or other data from the calculator.
The CBL 2 package includes a cradle; connecting cable; batteries; and temperature, light, and voltage sensors. Also included is a built-in, multipurpose software program containing basic information on running experiments with the unit, probes, and calculator. Additional Texas Instruments CBR sensors and over 36 Vernier sensors, such as the CBL Motion Detector, are sold separately.
British Telecom modular connector plugs are used for all ports, so with the right adapters even older sensors with DIN plugs can be used. A high-quality printed manual provides setup and troubleshooting information as well as a set of experiments to get you started immediately.
The Calculator-Based Laboratory 2 is a well-priced, powerful learning tool that will allow students to work both within and beyond the classroom walls.
Evaluator: Mike Brown teaches science and computer technology at Seaside High School in Seaside, Ore.
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