The publishers claim that this package offers almost everything you need to teach food chains, a bold claim, but does it stand up? The answer is "yes", and while Food Chains and Food Webs is hardly at the cutting edge of multimedia (which is not necessarily a bad thing in my book) it does exactly what it says on the tin and gives pupils a good grounding in the concepts behind food chains and food webs.
The program uses text, graphics and photographic images (there is also a QuickTime intro movie) to cover three main areas - food chains, food webs, and producers and consumers. The program is very easy to use: you simply select the key stage and topic you want to cover and it's on the screen in an instant. The user's screen is very clean and uncluttered - it's very easy to navigate. Pupils can work through each topic at their own pace and an on-screen glossary is always to hand. Each section uses simple graphics and text to describe a process or concept, and at the end of each section is a very handy summary.
Students can then choose whether to take a test, or move on to the next lesson. You have a choice of habitats to test yourself on including a hedgerow, garden, Californian desert and fresh water environment. The tests are mainly drag and drop exercises and if you get the test right, your computer plays a triumphant ping and a "well done!" message is flashed on the screen. Get part of the test wrong and you're asked to re-do the incorrect bits. Test results are stored and can be printed out, which is handy for teachers.
As you'd expect, the KS3 and GCSE portions of the program cover more detail, such as a pyramid of numbers, energy transfer and the effects of toxic chemicals on food webs. The teachers' notes (which are in a PDF file) are comprehensive and give lots of good guidance and tips for using the program. The publishers say Food Chains and Food Webs could be used by individual users, small groups or for whole-class teaching on an interactive whiteboard, and it's certainly ideal for whole-class demonstrations. Food Webs and Food Chains isn't earth-shattering software, but it delivers what it promises and what's more, its site licence pricing makes this program excellent value for money.
Details
Food Chains and Food Webs
Available for PC/Mac on CD-Rom.
£34.04 (ex-VAT Includes full site licence
Key stage 2, 3 and GCSE
www.spinysoft.co.uk
