Falcon’s Environmental Science CD‐ROM is an interactive tutorial for science students at the secondary school level. The CD‐ROM is intended to provide multimedia simulations of actual field experiments using real field data and tests. It consists of interactive modules in seven different environmental studies scenarios: minerals, radiation, legal control, stream pollution, geology of homesite selection, energy from fossil fuels, and floods & streams.
Installation and system requirements were simple and easy. It requires a minimum of Windows 3.1, 4 MB RAM, VGA monitor (256 colors), CD‐ROM drive, and audio card with speakers. Even the audio card with speakers is not necessary ‐ as most of the audio clips are supplementary help and instructions are easily attained elsewhere. The installation process is very automated, only requiring the student to follow simple on‐screen setup procedures.
The software allows for multiple students in a networked environment, such as a classroom, as well as multiple instructors. It is also designed to store the student’s lesson, if one stops before completing a module. After navigating a few introductory screens, the student is prompted to enter his or her name and the instructor’s name. The next screen contains eight icons representing the seven modules and an introductory module. The icons aren’t easily understood; but as the student moves the mouse over each one, a text box pops up with the name of the module.
This reviewer navigated two of the seven modules, minerals and stream pollution. Although I have not had any science since Biology 101, I actually did pretty well in the stream pollution and fairly well in the mineral module. That is how I knew the software was aimed at high school level students and not undergraduate college students. I would even say that the CD‐ROM would not be above the heads of advanced middle school science students.
Each module offers basically seven steps: overview, problem orientation, sampling data, modeling, conclusion, decision analysis, and objective test and essay. The overview just explains the module and what needs to be done to complete it. The problem orientation is probably the best feature of the CD‐ROM. The authors have done a great job designing and documenting the problem to be solved and present it in an easy to understand and concise manner. The data‐sampling step allows the student to take samples and analyze data about the specific test site. The samples are recorded in the modeling book, which the student moves to after completing all sampling. After drawing conclusions from the summaries completed in the modeling book, the student draws conclusions about the problem. Decision analysis is a grading of how the student has done on his or her conclusion. That is followed by a multiple‐choice test about the concepts covered in the module. The student then gets the opportunity to write an essay about the exercise. The graphics and software design are very good. Except in a few situations, navigation is intuitive and relatively easy. I would recommend purchase of the software for earth science or environmental science classes for secondary school students provided the school or library has sufficient funds to pay the steep price of single‐user or networked access. University libraries that support teacher education programs and have sufficient funds may also want to consider purchasing the product. (Ed. Note: Environmental Science CD‐ROM was designed at the University of Akron for non‐science majors taking introductory environmental science and geology lab courses.)
