Did you know there are 18 species of grasshoppers?
Did you know there is a ladybug that is blue with black spots?
Did you know there are no fireflies west of Kansas?
These are just some of the great facts that you will learn when you experience The Fascinating World of Insects DVD from BrainFood Learning. What a wonderful product to have the opportunity to review.
Upon looking at the DVD cover, my 3 year old said
“Look mom, it’s my favorite insect – a praying mantis – let’s watch it.”
So we did! He was captivated from the beginning. My 8-year old was equally enthralled with the video. And I must say, I even found it to be interesting.
The DVD the Fascinating World of Insects is a great supplement to any science curriculum or simply to be used to help your child learn more about insects. Utilizing high quality picture and sound, embedded with fascinating facts about the insects themselves, the DVD is appropriate for all ages and provides children with age appropriate as well as above-age materials to help the child enjoy and learn about insects.
The DVD is set up in sections introducing a particular insect as well as vocabulary associated with the insect such as entomologist, larva, or metamorphosis. These insects are studied within the video are: grasshopper, ladybug, rhino beetle, firefly, mosquito, honey bee, water strider, ant, praying mantis, dragonfly, and butterfly.
What is an entomologist? What is larva? What is a scientific name? There are some of the things that are covered in the sections of the video on Insects.
The review section at the end of the DVD has flashcards for the younger viewers to identify the insects as well as a review of the parts of the insect. For more advanced learners, the video review section provides a more advanced quiz of insect facts and scientific vocabulary.
Videos and pictures are very clear, good quality and high color. The kids loved the close-ups of the insects. I found it to be a very enjoyable display.
The introduction to the vocabulary words associated with insects was good. It was brief, and obviously not a complete course, but also not intended to be one either. The video is not laden with vocabulary but there is a good overview of insect vocabulary.
The video provided excellent, easy to understand explanations of such things as the butterfly stages and how bees make honey. The butterfly pictures of the transformation from Egg to Butterfly is notable and in a great, close-up manner.
Check out this great 3-minute sample video of the Fascinating World of Insects:
You can watch the whole DVD or pick an individual insect to learn about when you are viewing the DVD. You can also choose to do the reviews at the end of the whole video or you can do them separately whenever you are ready. The DVD is easy to navigate to make it work for you and your family.
The Fascinating World of Insects from BrainFood Learning is an excellent DVD for any age to help you and your students learn about insects. You can purchase their video from the BrainFood Learning website for $14.99. You may also find their other DVDs such as the Fascinating World of Mammals and the Fascinating World of Birds a good match for you and your family. They are also available through the BrainFood Learning website.
So what did the kids think of the Fascinating World of Insects DVD?
It’s cool mom!! Because it showed new bugs I didn’t know about like the rhino beetle – and I liked the review it was fun– 8 year old
Good – it was cool – because it had the praying mantis – 3 year old
Be sure to check out other Schoolhouse Crew reviews on the Fascinating World of Insects DVD and other DVD’s from BrainFood Learning.
UPDATE:BrainFood Learning has added a curriculum to accompany their Fascinating World DVDs. If you are interested in using these DVDs in your homeschool or after school learning, you may want to check out their curriculum here.
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