What's Out There? Our Solar System and Beyond

School librarians, take heed: more has been learned about the Solar System in the last thirty years than in all human history combined (check dates on your earlier titles and weed!). What's Out There? mixes live action video, stock film footage, computer-generated animation and still photos together for a visually exciting 25 minutes. In fact, the only disappointment is that the production was apparently completed before the Pathfinder mission, so there are no Pathfinder photos (though students will see a computer-animated image of the robotic probe itself). The teacher's guide contains the full script, a glossary, review questions, suggested activities, and a list of web sites for further exploration. While it's scripted for the 4th grade level, younger students will be able to grasp most of the concepts and facts presented and older students nearly always need a refresher on this kind of information, and the simplicity of the terminology is not at all "childish." For a succinct and lucid treatment of the subject from the Big Bang to (early) 1997, it would be hard to beat this title. Highly recommended. Aud: E, I, J, H. (R. Reagan)