Magic School Bus in Concert Activity Center, The
© 2000 Microsoft Corp.
"Why can't you go for a ride on the bus?" is the first question kids ask when they play with this collection of eight activities. It's a good question. Unlike previous Magic School Bus titles, there is no mission or overall goal, and there is no connection between the activities. Instead, children explore two screens filled with items that lead to games or that launch short lessons on sounds and music. The activities are generally solid, and vary in their depth, fun, and educational value. One of the best is Central Stage, where children can hear and learn about instruments in the orchestra, as well as view their sound waves. Also innovative is the Acoustimatic, a machine that lets children place sounds into different environments (like underwater) to see how the sounds change. But one game, "The Power of Sound," is merely a fun shoot 'em up game with no relation to music. Guess where testers spent most of their time? Great features include a closed caption option (hurrah for Microsoft!) that makes the program usable by hearing impaired children. Also nice is that four of the activities have different challenge levels that the kids can set on their own. Despite its shortcomings, this program succeeds in its goal of giving children a playful environment to learn about sounds.
$19.95, Win, Mac OS (CD-ROM)
Teaches: music, the physics of sound, pitch, instruments, sound waves