Alternatives Database

Invertebrates Zoology: Multimedia Lab Assistant

Authored by Dr. Tom Carefoot of the University of British Columbia, Invertebrate Zoology represents years of research and travel throughout the globe and covers 10 major phyla on 3 CD-ROMs: Porifera, Platyhelminthes, Echinodermata, Annelida, Onychophora, Cnidaria, Nematoda, Chordata, Mollusca, Arthropoda. Covered in each phylum are important life functions such as nutrition, gas exchange, excretion, locomotion, and reproduction, dealt with informatively and interactively. The program features thousands of brilliant colour photographs of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial invertebrates, along with hundreds of 2D and 3D animations illustrating feeding, locomotory, defensive, reproductive, and many other behaviours. Some 150 videoclips (total 25 mins.) show animals moving, burrowing, catching prey, copulating and feeding. Text and voiceover explanations are included throughout. Also included are 6 major interactive experiments: nematocyst discharge, pedicellariae activity, herbivore grazing, starfish as keystone predators, and polychaete, commensals, and clownfish defence from their anemone hosts, as well as dozens of other interactive exercises and 200 quizzes.

Medium: CD-ROM System requirements: Windows 95 or later, with Pentium processor and sound card; Macintosh OS 7.5 or later with PowerMac (minimum 125 MHz) and audio speakers or headphones; 16 MB RAM, 8X CD-ROM drive, sound card, QuickTime 2.1 Price: US$179.00 (single), US$369.00 (Labpack of 5); Site licence: US$619.00 (10 CD pack), US$1,119.00 (20 CD pack), US$1,499.00 (30 CD pack)