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Norman Desmarais "A Multidimensional Learning Experience" How Would You Survive? explores the worlds and lifestyles of the Aztecs, Vikings, and ancient Egyptians. Based on the Franklin Watts book set of the same name, this title uses elaborate illustrations created and designed by David Salariya, plus animations and sound effects to provide a multidimensional learning experience for elementary and junior high school students. 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, and Religious Beliefs. Buttons in the upper right corner of the screen allow switching to another civilization for quick comparisons of a topic. Most of the same topics are covered for the three civilizations, even though they may appear under different titles. For example, what is addressed under Government in the Aztec civilization is called Pharaohs and Law for Egypt. 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 timeline, and a How Do We Know? feature, which discusses archaeological 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 supplying more detail. When the youngster thinks he or she understands one of the civilizations, he or she can play the Have You Survived? game which asks multiple-choice questions about that 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. It is well worth the money and highly recommended. Posted with Permission
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