The biggest strengths in Coral Kingdom are the way the information is organized and the questions posed in the missions. The goal of this simulation is to explore the principle themes of marine ecology and the environmental impact of human activities. Logistically the program is easy to navigate. It can be adapted for whole class use, small group investigations using the missions, or as an independent resource for individuals. Missions stimulate scientific observations and are organized around diving at investigation sites in Hawaii and Micronesia.
Students view slides with hot spots to focus on important ecological information.
They collect information about the inhabitants offshore in shallow to deep waters. A student notebook facilitates systematic information gathering and notes can be incorporated in a complete scientific report. The fourth mission involves identifying and solving problems related to human impact and reef preservation. As a logistics aid, dives are limited to twenty minutes of air time each. One drawback is that progression through the slide show is linear and it is difficult to access specific slides out of sequence.