Margaret Gorcyca, K-12 Teacher, Retired
National Science Teachers Association Recommends
November 2005
In an era when CD and DVD formats are popular, videos are still useful tools that fit into limited budgets. Teachers will appreciate both the content and convenience of Life and Earth Science Series: Biomes. There are four videos with teachers' guides and great suggestions for related activities. This series stands out because of the way the videos are set up. Each part begins with a question, and a script is provided so teachers can focus students in advance. Each has places to pause so teachers can interact with students as well as suggested student activities to encourage active exploration. They could easily support the "5 Es" model for instruction. The videos and supplemental materials all are correlated to the National Science Education Standards and easily support most state standards. The vocabulary is grade appropriate, and the videography is awesome. The ease of using the video allow teachers to get away with very little prep time. Visual Learning Company has made this product teacher friendly and designed it to fit well with a middle school student's attention span and interest. Note: Available in VHS, DVD, and Digital formats