Common Sense Media Review
By Dana Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Little bear encourages small tasks to save big oceans.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Green Rank: Save Our Oceans
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
To play GREEN RANK: SAVE OUR OCEANS, choose Read to Me or Read It Myself. Follow the narrator (read to me) or on-screen prompts (Read to Me and Read to Myself) to use the interactive features. Swipe, tap, and touch to play, according to each page's instructions, and players hear a happy "yea!" when they've completed the task. For example, one page asks uses to touch the "ecological detergents" on a grocery store shelf. The parent-gate protected sections of the app at the end lead to the developer's website for purchase of related products or an email option.
Is It Any Good?
The central messages of this storybook app -- kids can do small things to help ocean health -- is well-delivered by a sweet bear but does have some flaws. On one page of Green Rank: Save Our Oceans, the narrator says "touch the objects that can be recycled." Touching them, however, does nothing; instead, you need to swipe them. On another page, the app asks kids "how do the animals play" in the oceans, but the interaction is limited to tapping a turtle, three fish, and a seagull who simply move back and forth. Also, some tips include gender stereotyping: Ask mom to choose the eco-friendly laundry detergent and ask dad to fix a water leak in the sink. Green Rank: Save Our Oceans may be worth a one-time view to introduce young kids to small things they can do to help oceans, but don't expect a lot of depth or wow-inducing features.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the ideas suggested for kids on Green Rank: Save Our Oceans. Can you and your kid implement some (or all) of the suggestions on this app, such as shutting off the sink water while brushing your teeth, using eco-friendly laundry detergent, and picking up trash anywhere you see it?
Think of other ways beyond the app to help bodies of water in or near your community and the animals that live within them. Along with recycling, find ways to reduce and reuse as a family, too.
For more ideas on how you can help your kid become aware of eco-friendly practices, check out Common Sense Media's list Environmental Websites for Kids.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
- Subjects : Science : animals , ecosystems and the environment
- Skills : Responsibility & Ethics : honoring the community , making wise decisions
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Release date : August 17, 2016
- Genre : Books
- Publisher : Gagos Green
- Version : 2.1.0
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 6.0 or later; Android 2.3 and up
- Last updated : December 9, 2020
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