Dynamic Rainforest, The

$69.95

CSIRO's spectacular new multimedia exploration of Australia's unique tropical rainforest

Experience the sights, sounds and incredible life systems of Australia's tropical rainforests. CSIRO's fourth dual media CD-ROM is much more than a reference tool; it is an adventure into a world of animals, plants and amazing organisms. Explore the Living Forest. Click anywhere in the forest to see what lives there. More than 60 species may be located in the on-screen forest with text, photographs and sounds. Learn about a time before humans, the ice ages and even dinosaurs when Australia was a part of the huge land mass that was Gondwana. This amazing video tells how Australia's geological origins have shaped today's flora and fauna and explains why the Wet Tropics region is such an important link with the past. Listen to the sounds of the rainforest.

Witness the struggle for light that occurs between the plants and learn how the forest regenerates after a tree falls and creates a gap in the rainforest canopy. The quiz section allows you to see the animated effects of a storm. Pick the Partners introduces children to special relationships creatures have with other plants and animals in the rainforest. Another section - What tree is that? - demonstrates the use of physical characteristics in tree species identification. Litterbugs gives five picture and text stories which describe the role of particular organisms in breaking down the forest litter and making its nutrient available to living plants. The Dynamic Rainforest is complemented with a 24 page educational supplement full of teaching ideas, student worksheets and ideas for work away from the computer. Following the success of their earlier titles - Insects, eatSmart and Ecotrekker - CSIRO have produced another world class program which invites users to experience the beauty and wonder of nature through a combination of video, sound and vivid, full colour photographs.