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The objective of this program is to learn about avian behavior,
anatomy, challenges to survival, and remarkable roles in
mythology and art. You take a guided tour through a virtual
natural history museum. The museum has three main rooms,
corridors, and various galleries. Begin a guided tour or
wander through the exhibits at your own pace.
Visit the section on Birds of Prey and see a ten-second video of
the world's largest bird of prey, the Andean Condor; learn about
the importance of the falcon to the Egyptian culture; or turn a
stuffed Eurasia Kestrel 360 degrees for 16 different views. See
the world from a vulture's viewpoint where the central portion of
the visual field is magnified 2.5 times.
Learn about bird habitats from around the globe. Learn about
courtship, nesting, feeding, or anatomy. Other galleries hold
exhibits on flight patterns with migration maps, environmental
factors affecting bird population, endangered species, songs and
calls where users can listen to birds like canaries and owls, and
birds in art where some artwork can be rotated to view all sides.
A navigation icon displays a map of the current location and can
be used to move to another part of the museum.
A visit to the Museum Store lets the user create screen
savers, printable stationery and gift tags, and save
sound files for use in other programs. Users can access a fully
searchable index, assemble slide shows, and copy or print display
windows. There is an option for turning the sound on and off.
This museum can be expanded with additional CD-ROM titles that
act as floors Joined by a common elevator.
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Features
- Explores the diversity of bird species,
their habitats, and challenges to their
survival.
- Designed in the shape of an eye with three main
rooms, corridors, and various galleries.
- Within each main room exhibit, graphics and artifacts are
clustered by topics.
- Displays include text, labeled
visuals that can sometimes be enlarged,
videos, and pop-up windows. A button
on the bottom of the screen reveals "see also" references and
hyperlinks to related information.
- The Aviary introduces bird habitats around the globe and
12 families of birds, including domesticated
birds, seabirds, and Sightless birds.
- Bird Behavior covers topics such as courtship,
hatching, nesting, and feeding.
- In the Anatomy Room, students can explore
bird structure in four layers: exterior, muscles, organs, and
skeleton. The mouse can be turned into an "x-ray window" to see
body parts in greater detail. Exhibits in this section also
include wings and flight, feathers, senses, and
respiration.
- Other galleries have displays and activities about
bird watching, flight patterns,
songs and calls, bird beaks,
and birds in art. Some artwork can be rotated to
view all sides.
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Four slide shows introduce the museum and its
features, and interesting highlights from the program. Students
can also assemble their own slide shows.
- Throughout the program a navigation icon is used to display a
map with the current location, to move to
another part of the museum by clicking indentations on the map,
or to go back one screen at a time.
- Options for coping or printing display
windows, and for turning off sound.
- Index has a search box and an alphabetical
list of keywords.
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Benefits
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3-D Exhibits - Rotate objects to examine them
from any angle. Click to zoom in for amazing close-up
views.
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Interactive Consoles - Stretch your
imagination with built-in activities and challenges: You'll be
learning as you play.
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Museum Store - Pick you favorite image or
sound from the many displayed here, and download them for
desktop use or personalized stationery.
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Guided Tours - Choose an expert to show you
around the museum, or create your own tour to play back for
friends, classmates, or family.
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Reviews
The Book Page:
"A stunning achievement...richly detailed...The term virtual
reality is not a misnomer in this case. You really feel as if you
are traveling through a museum."
PC Entertainment
"Visually stunning and heavily informative presentation..." 4 stars
****
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