Eyewitness Virtual Reality Bird

Multimedia Educational Guided Tour for Students

The objective of this multimedia/exploration program is for students to learn about avian behavior, anatomy, challenges to survival, and remarkable roles in mythology and art. Students take a guided tour through a virtual natural history museum. The museum has three main rooms., corridors, and various galleries. Each room groups graphics and artifacts by topic, and all displays include text.

Visit the section on Birds of Prey and see a ten-second video of the world's largest bird of prey, the Andean Condor; learn about the importance of the falcon to the Egyptian culture; or turn a stuffed Eurasia Kestrel 360 degrees for 16 different views. See the world from a vulture's viewpoint where the central portion of the visual field is magnified 2.5 times. 




Learn about bird habitats from around the globe. Learn about courtship, nesting, feeding, or anatomy. Other galleries hold exhibits on flight patterns with migration maps, environmental factors affecting bird population, endangered species, songs and calls where users can listen to birds like canaries and owls, and birds in art where some artwork can be rotated to view all sides. A navigation icon displays a map of the current location and can be used to move to another part of the museum.

A visit to the Museum Store lets the user create screen savers, printable stationery and gift tags, and save sound files for use in other programs. Users can access a fully searchable index, assemble slide shows, and copy or print display windows. There is an option for turning the sound on and off. This museum can be expanded with additional CD-ROM titles that act as floors Joined by a common elevator.

The Multimedia Education Lab Pack provides you with a 5 pack (5 Copies of the Bird CD) so you can use within your classroom. Also included is a white 3-ring binder which will allow you to print out the information and keep the binder for a reference for your students.

• Explores the diversity of bird species, their habitats, and challenges to their survival.
• Designed in the shape of an eye with three main rooms, corridors, and various galleries.
• Within each main room exhibit, graphics and artifacts are clustered by topics.
• Displays include text, labeled visuals that can sometimes be enlarged, videos, and pop-up windows. A button on the bottom of the screen reveals "see also" references and hyperlinks to related information.
• The Aviary introduces bird habitats around the globe and 12 families of birds, including domesticated birds, seabirds, and Sightless birds.
• Bird Behavior covers topics such as courtship, hatching, nesting, and feeding.
•  In the Anatomy Room, students can explore bird structure in four layers: exterior, muscles, organs, and skeleton. The mouse can be turned into an "x-ray window" to see body parts in greater detail. Exhibits in this section also include wings and flight, feathers, senses, and respiration.
• Other galleries have displays and activities about bird watching, flight patterns, songs and calls, bird beaks, and birds in art. Some artwork can be rotated to view all sides.
• Four slide shows introduce the museum and its features, and interesting highlights from the program. Students can also assemble their own slide shows.
• Throughout the program a navigation icon is used to display a map with the current location, to move to another part of the museum by clicking indentations on the map, or to go back one screen at a time.
• Options for coping or printing display windows, and for turning off sound.
• Index has a search box and an alphabetical list of keywords.

• Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP
• 25MHz 486 SX or faster processor
• 16 MB RAM
• 10MB free hard disk space
•  SVGA 256 color display (640x480)
• 2X CD-ROM drive
• 8- or 16-bit sound card (required)
• Loudspeakers or headphones
• Mouse