Educational Software Evaluation Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa Vinnette Gibson PSE 6608

Does it Teach Intended Concepts? Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa teaches the importance of a balanced ecosystem and preservation of an environment.

Concepts Concise and Clear The game sends the player on quests suggested as "goals." The player is given goals of what could be favorable for their ecosystem. For example, a text box may appear advising the player that more shrubbery is needed for the zebras to eat. This would be a quest to obtain and plant more bushes. However, these quests are not required in a specific order. One may choose to refill the waterhole before planting more bushes but should keep in mind the longer he/she puts off the goals, the faster the ecosystem may deteriorate.

System Requirements PC: Windows 98SE/2000/Me/XP, 600 MHz or faster cpu, 40 MB hard drive space, 256 MB RAM, DirectX 7 or later, Direct 3D compatible display with 32MB VRAM, CD-ROM, DirectSound compatible sound card. Mac: MacOS thru , powerMac G4 600 MHz or faster cpu, 40 MB hard drive space, 256 MB RAM, nVidia geForce or ATI Radeon compatible 3D display with 32MB VRAM, CD- ROM, OpenAL compatible audio device.

Program Loads Without Difficulty No difficulty in loading the program No need to consult a manual Clear instructions to set up the game Game automatically runs from the CD and appears on the screen Game guides the players through the process

Technical Aspects The program loads quickly Technical help is readily available: –There is a large section of FAQ’s which address any problem a student or teacher would encounter and the solution to fix it Clear instructions are provided to play the games

Clear Instruction on Learning Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa is a game in which players learn the importance of a balanced ecosystem. Set in Africa, the player must maintain many diverse habitats including grasslands, waterholes, and desert plains. To accomplish this, the player must learn to balance food, water, and animal population size. The player is not represented in the game as a character that interacts with the animals, but instead views the game as an outside observer. The player can adjust his/her vantage point with the keyboard arrows and mouse.

Clear Instruction on Learning By using the right and left arrows and up (forwards) and down (backwards) arrows, the player can travel over Africa to monitor his/her developing ecosystem. By using the mouse to click additional up and down arrows on the screen, the player can adjust his/ her height over Africa ranging from ground level to an overlooking aerial view.

Students Operate the Software Without Problems Instructions pop up automatically, through a step by step tutorial of the game.

Interaction This is a game in which students must keep the ecosystem balanced and preserve the life of animals. the game instills the understanding of what factors are essential for a thriving population and how alterations can be devastating. If the waterhole dries up, the flamingos will lose their homes and all animals will dehydrate; if there is not enough vegetation, animals will starve.

Systematic Instructional Approach Lessons are systematic Students must follow step by step instructions to understand the games

Color, Sound, Graphics Color graphics and sound represent the real life situation in the African ecosystem. They help students to understand the concept of what a real ecosystem is like.

Age Group Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa is most appropriate for ages 6-12 depending on the difficulty level chosen. The difficulty levels are easy, medium and hard.

Creativity and High Thinking Skills The game is about raising and nurturing the animals to help build a thriving ecosystem, all of which requires dedication and problem solving. Players must take care of animals, keep them alive - and not shoot them

Price The program is offered for one month as a free trial and then it costs $9.99 to buy the software Reduced from 19.95, the price of average software programs

Negatives? None Detected

PC or MAC? Both

Recommendations Children will enjoy playing this game. It teaches important skills about the ecosystem. I recommend it as a good choice for educational software

Bibliography Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa is a game in which players learn the importance of a balanced ecosystem. Retrieved June 13, 2008 website: tycoon/index_wildlifetycoon.php