System requirements: Laserdisc player and color monitor; barcode reader

Grade levels: K-5

This laserdisc kit is a video-based program that introduces students to plants, natural forces that shape the Earth, and patterns that are found in nature, art, music, buildings, and technology. The kit contains a double-sided laserdisc, 12 Science Alive classroom booklets, a set of activity cards,and a teacher's guide. The laserdisc provides graphics and live-action video segments that help students recognize the diversity, features, and functions of plants, patterns, and forces. In the video segments, three elementary-age children are shown researching the plants, patterns, and geology of the world's ecosystems. In the plant units, the children discuss their observations and discoveries about each ecosystem, considering how plants have adapted and the ways in which they are used to meet human needs for food, clothing, fuel, and shelter. For each topic, teachers can choose a primary or intermediate track to narrate the lesson. The video lessons refer to complementary readings from the Science Alive booklets. Twenty-four activity cards are provided as guidelines for interaction with the material on the laserdisc and in the books. Each card offers one large group activity, two small group activities, and a blackline master for an individual activity that may be included in the students' science journals. Large group activities are designed to beused in conjunction with the laserdisc and Science Alive books to begin discussions, prompt scientific inquiry, and help students gain a new perspective of the scientific process. A sample small group activity has students devise a lab test for any force of nature, such as water, sunlight, wind, or gravity. The teacher's guide includes a barcode index, scripts for the laserdisc narrations, glossary, and bibliographic references.