Meet the Insects: Village Edition
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Meet the Insects: Village Edition
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this app.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Meet the Insects: Village Edition is a comprehensive digital resource that teaches kids about insects that commonly live in neighborhoods and towns, or "villages." As they explore, kids can read, watch videos, view images, keep an observation journal, and more. Colorful, realistic graphics, interactive features, and great sound effects help keep kids engaged as they learn about the fascinating world of insects. Because the different orders of insects are named and Latin names are given, parents might need to explain the basics of classification.
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What’s It About?
Kids can explore five main areas: Multimedia, Insect Story, Observation Journal, See Insects, and Quiz. The Multimedia section includes brief videos and photographs of different insects, giving kids a close-up view of behaviors such as feeding, mating, and laying eggs. The Insect Stories section is a narrated, animated chapter book with topics including classification, life cycles, and characteristics of insects that commonly live in neighborhood or suburban settings. The Observation Journal includes a section for kids to enter written observations and a section for them to view their entries. The See Insects section includes more detailed information about the four main groups of village insects, and the Quiz section offers kids an opportunity to test their knowledge by taking either a true/false quiz or a quiz in which they identify insects based on a photograph.
Is It Any Good?
As in the other Meet the Insects versions, MEET THE INSECTS: VILLAGE EDITION is packed with interactive features, interesting content, beautiful graphics, and diverse media resources. Kids can bring insects to life at the tap of a finger and will be inspired to go out and explore nature. The built-in zooming magnifying glass is a fantastic feature, allowing kids to observe detailed structures of the insects. The information is scientific yet kid-friendly. It would be great to see a pause and rewind feature in the Insect Story section so kids could review the material and take notes, and offering videos for each insect would provide consistency for kids who want to see the same features for each bug. Aside from these small shortcomings, the app provides every possible angle to get kids interested in insects.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about insects they have observed that live in their backyards or neighborhoods. Work together to try to identify them.
Discuss ways in which insects are important. How are they helpful to other organisms and to the environment as a whole?
Talk about how animals (and insects) are classified by species, genus, family, order, and so on, or do some research online about classification and naming.
App Details
- Device: iPad
- Subjects: Science: animals, biology
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: applying information, collecting data, Self-Direction: academic development
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: September 4, 2013
- Category: Education
- Topics: Bugs
- Publisher: NCSOFT
- Version: 1.0.5
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 5.0 or later
- Last updated: July 29, 2016
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