Planet Earth HD

Open up ‘The Planet Earth’ app and you’ll find 20 pages of science each presenting a new concept with an interactive illustration ready to be explored. Along side these mini pieces of art you will find a few paragraphs of accompanying text to get you thinking even more about this world we inhabit.

The main concepts that are covered in this app include –  the Earth in space (with the seasons, night and day), our planet’s atmosphere and structure, animals and plants, the map of our world. This is all presented using high definition cartoon illustrations that are bright, attractive and colourful as well as being full of fine detail.

The opening screen offers a choice of reading the content on your own or listening to a narration with the written text still visible. Both options will serve a purpose to assist with literacy skills, either by hearing the pronunciation of new words or testing fluency in reading. The style of language used is friendly and quite informal. It is in no way like a science text book, yet it still provides a fair level of descriptions and key words for each topic.

Moving through the book from page to page is straightforward and happens at your own pace. It is also possible to jump from one page to any other by tapping on the tab at the top of the screen which will reveal a mini strip of each page for you to select from. An additional sound option is also available from this view where you can toggle the sound effects or narration on and off.

The interaction with the majority of the illustrations is quite limited unfortunately, for example tapping on an animal will just make it move or jiggle a little. However, there are a few interactions that help animate the concepts described in the text and add to the learning experience. When reading about the seasons of the year the illustration of a log cabin will mimic the actual season due to the position of the Earth relative to the Sun. There are also a couple of illustrations that display additional labels that provide more detail for each topic. The solar system’s planet names appear in one illustration and the layers within the Earth are shown in another. This idea could have been extended to the map of the Earth or the names of the animals to support further learning.

The opportunities for learning has been slightly hampered by this science book’s approach and presentation. Other than reading the material and looking at the pictures, the learner will not be challenged to apply their new found understanding in any way. There is no form of assessment, such as a quiz, for any of the content. Each new page introduces something new, and while this means the book covers a wide range of science, it only skims the surface rather than going deeper.

The pre-teen target audience will definitely enjoy hunting through this book and it has the potential to spark more interest in the subject for those budding scientists of the future. The price is fairly reasonable when compared to similar educational apps of this kind.

You can download Planet Earth HD on your iOS devices from the Apple App Store.