Frequently Asked Questions Thousands of web sites for educators and students. Support for long-term classroom planning and professional development. Information covering important topics for today's educators and parents. This CD-ROM, designed for grades 4 to 9, introduces students to basic biology principles through detailed drawings of how specimens look under a microscope. The CD-ROM allows students to choose available specimens from the categories of pond, grass, air and rocks.
Students then learn about how plants reproduce, and observe how insects look up close.
The disk also features colorful illustrations, showing dozens of specimens, along with informative text boxes. Upon choosing a specimen from a listing of specimens in each area, students can find the Viewing Screen where they can see a detailed drawing of what the specimen looks like under the microscope. In addition, the text box above the specimen provides some interesting information about what is shown. Students also learn about the inventor of the first microscope, the parts of a simple compound microscope, and how it works. For example, upon choosing the grass and trees section, students get a close up view of a spider's powerful jaws, explore how the cells of animals differ from the cells of plants using a cell from a field mouse, and observe the tip of a root which has sprouted from a barley seed.