Kinetic City: Mission to Vearth

$1500, Internet-delivered

Teaches: science

CTR Review

Are you looking for an educational after-school program to implement at your site? Kinetic City: Mission to Vearth is a standards-based, Internet-delivered science program disguised as a fun, camp-like experience. Produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science with a grant from the National Science Foundation, the program offers 16 two-week "missions" that each begin with an on-line animation that describes the latest attack of space "bad-guy" Deep Delete. To fight back, children must perform five science activities: an art activity, a writing activity, a hands on science experiment, a physical challenge and an interactive computer activity. Upon completing these five activities, the players log on to the website and test their knowledge in a Mission to Vearth game played on-line. Getting the maximum number of Kinetic City Power Points in the game requires knowing the science information contained in each mission. Content covers topics like earth science (pollution, erosion, etc.) and biology (human anatomy, etc.). Official Kinetic City Clubs receive: a one-day leader workshop in implementing the program -- for two leaders per club, materials for performing all science activities, and 30 Kinetic City Case Journals with learning prompts, bios of cool scientists, data sheets, and so on. Clubs also receive an official Kinetic City Club web site, on which children can customize their home and crew pages and display the results of their experiments and activities. A one-year Kinetic City Club membership, featuring 16 two-week missions with nearly 100 activities costs $1499. This includes an 8-week summer program. Volume and multiyear discounts are available, as are inexpensive four-mission packs lasting 8 weeks. We had a brief look at the program and it appears well-done and fun. For more information, visit www.kcmtv.com or call 1-888-438-5272.