CD-ROM

-- School Library Journal, 12/1/2005

Science

Webs to Whales Nature Tales: The Rainbow Web. CD-ROM. Systems: Win. 98 & later, Mac OS 8.5 & later. Block Publishing. 2005. ISBN 0-9761625-1-2. $9.95.

PreS-Gr 4–This introduction to the fascinating world of spiders includes seven sections: four educational lessons, two games, and the title story. Users can read on their own or have the text narrated. The "Spiders and Insects" lesson describes and compares the body parts of spiders and insects. Color photographs illustrate the various parts, and users can zoom in for a closer look. The "Spiders Webs" section focuses on four different types of webs and how spiders use the features of each to catch insects. "Spiders! Spiders!" highlights 12 types of spiders with vivid color photos and brief summaries. Users will find out how different spiders hunt, what kinds of webs they weave, and how they use their abilities and colors to survive. The section on "Colors" ties in with "The Rainbow Web" story. Basic color information is reinforced with activities like mixing colors. "Catch Me If You Can" is a game that teaches color recognition, while "The Puzzler" turns photographs of insects and spiders or illustrations from the story into simple puzzles. "The Rainbow Web" story, written by Cheryl Block and illustrated by Gene Takeshita, stars a little spider who learns to weave a web of colored silk.Though others admire the pretty web, the little spider quickly learns that a brightly colored web impedes his ability to catch food. This simple tale is superfluous to the rest of the program. The tale's cartoon spider has just two human-like eyes when the previous lessons explain that spiders usually have eight eyes. There are 29 reproducible math, science, and reading activities in a separate file on the disk. Overall, the CD-ROM is a fine introduction to spiders. Its strength is in the lessons and their vivid photographs. The reproducibles greatly enhance the use of the CD. The program is most suitable for classroom use with the younger age range since the games are slow-paced and not particularly challenging and the lessons provide brief, basic information.–April Mazza, Wayland Public Library, MA