Software : Play and Learn: Science Experiments

Rating: - Not so impressed
I bought this software for my daughter who is very computer literate for her age. She happily worked her way through all of the Jump Ahead Year 1 series from Focus Multimedia Ltd and thoroughly enjoyed them. More importantly, she clearly learned a lot too.

Perhaps it was because I was expecting the same level of engagement and explanation from Play and Learn: Science Experiments that I felt a little disappointed. The experiments simply aren't that engaging. Sure, they look good, but they don't actually explain very much.

Worse, they are often fiddly where one small mistake forces the child to start again from scratch, e.g. the very small drop area when positioning the cars on the first experiment: If you miss, the car falls off the bottom of the screen (rather than go back to its starting position) and the child is forced to press the reset button and start all over again. This and similar behaviour was so frustrating for my daughter that she lost interest rather more quickly than I had hoped.

The experiments were clearly designed to demonstrate some phenomena, which those of a scientific persuasion good easily spot. However, no explanation of the behaviour observed by the child was given. Again, using the first experiment as an example, the higher the ramp, the faster the car moved. This could have been used to introduce gravity, energy (potential converting to kinetic), momentum, etc etc, but sadly, all my child learned was that with the ramp on position '3', the car got to the third flag.

As another example, the question about how to pick up just the small metal objects and not the screwdriver is answered by 'move the magnet past them quickly'. But why? I was sitting with my child when she did this, so I was there to say, "perhaps the screwdriver is heavier (mass) and so takes longer to get moving (acceleration)". No such explanation is given by the software.

Last point: In my opinion, educational software should be designed to encourage and reward, but never to demotivate. Much educational software inadvertently overlooks this and here is an example: Rather than record how many questions were answered correctly and how many were answered wrongly, why not just record how many were right? Who cares if they answer a question wrong the first time, just let them have another go until they get it right. They still learn the same things, but they don't have this 'you have got 2 question wrong so far' following them through the activities. After all, it's not a competition.

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Rating: - Brilliant software for primary school child
The designers of this software really seem to understand young children. This programme looks simple - it's easy to understand and use, so my son, who can read a little, can already play it by himself. For a child who can read well, it will be a doddle to navigate. The artwork is appealling, and it's easy to adjust the level of difficulty. The experiments are genuinely interesting too!

The experiments are of course the best part of this software. Each one starts with information in very simple form. You can play with the experimental "equipment" before trying the actual experiments. The experiments themselves are designed as multiple choice questions. You may be able to guess the answer or work it out in your head, but you can also try it out on the equipment. The questions are genuinely interesting, and are graded from easiest to most difficult. For instance, there is a magnet with a number of objects. The easiest question asks what will be picked up by the magnet. The most difficult asks whether it would be possible to pick up just two of the three metal objects, and offers some possible ways to do it.

The best thing of all about the experiments is that they teach the scientific method, rather than just a series of facts. Of course, the facts are there (e.g. a magnet picks up metal), but you get to them via scientific questioning and experiment. It is far more useful for small children to learn to pose questions and find answers than to squirrel away facts at this age, since they can apply this method to all kinds of problems. As an added bonus, it will also keep them absorbed for much longer!

The interface is a real pleasure to use. The main menu has pictures as well as the words for each of the 9 scientific areas (gravity, liquids, air, hot & cold, motion, light & colour, electricity, sound and magnetism). When you move your mouse over one of the pictures, it does something interesting. From inside each scientific area you can move from one experimental area to the next, and back again - with easy-to-use arrows. All the mouse movements required are reasonably intuitive, from drag-and-drop pieces on a circuit board to drag-and-let-go pulling of a spring-loaded knob.

The advice on the package suggests age 7-11 years. I would say that this could be used by inquisitive pre-schoolers with adult involvement - the more difficult questions may be over their heads, but there are many very simple ones that they will be able to relate to, such as the movement of cars on a track. For independent use, I would say that any child who can read should be able to have a go. The upper age limit is about right - teenagers may still enjoy it and find it an engaging way to learn and review basic science, but they will probably get through it so fast that it won't seem worth the price.