Science Fundamentals

Gr 2—6—With beautiful photographs to illustrate her descriptions, the female narrator provides a quick and concise introduction to rocks and minerals. She begins with the many uses for rocks, from buildings to art, and defines rocks and minerals. In clear and straightforward terms, the formation of rocks and how they can change is explained. The three types of rocks are described, and diagrams help show how they make up the Earth's layers. Moving quickly from one topic to the next, the program covers the rock cycle, properties of rocks, various common minerals, and types of soil. The film concludes with a review and challenges viewers to examine the rocks that they find around them. Key terms are displayed onscreen. As an introduction, this is solid and interesting, covers the information that is required by many state standards, and offers opportunities for discussion. It does move quite swiftly, though, and consists of narration over photographs and drawings. Younger students may need to view the film in small sections.—MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann Elementary School, Binghamton, NY