Search for the Mary Rose - and discover the direction software
should take.
AT LAST! Mary Rose is the type of program that should show the
way forward to prospective programmers of educational software.
It fulfils the criteria that the micro should not be merely an
electronic blackboard.
This is a decision-making program, involving considerable work
and research by children away from the micro.
On the surface of it (if you'll pardon the pun), the program
is concerned with the search for the wreck of King Henry VIII's
flagship, the Mary Rose, off the coast of Southsea, and the subsequent
excavation of its artefacts before raising the hull.
The first part of the program involves the search for the Mary
Rose. The superb graphics and sound capabilities of the BBC Micro
are used well. A map showing the coastline adjacent to the search
area is presented on the screen.
A knowledge of compass bearings, lines of longitude and latitude,
coordinates and the ability to fix one's position by triangulation
are required. However, these are fully explained in" the
excellent documentation that is part of the whole software package.
The various clues and artefacts presented in the search for
the Mary Rose, can be marked with buoys.
Whenever a clue to the position of the ship is discovered and
a marker buoy is "dropped", compass bearings of that
position are automatically given which can be plotted on work
maps away from the micro.
Obviously, these clues and the hull itself can be found in a
haphazard way but with careful teaching the idea of a systematic
sweep search of the area can be introduced.
The BBC Micro is used as an underwater sonar detector (and very
realistic it sounds, too). The lower part of the screen is filled
with a picture of the seabed. When a discovery is made, you drop
a sonar marker buoy - but make sure you position it accurately!
This part of the program is really superb and well within the
capabilities
of children age nine and over. It gives scope for much work
away from the Micro and the program can be returned to many times
by individual or groups of users in their search for the Mary
Rose.
The second part of the program assumes that you found the correct
position, and begins by placing your search ship right over the
Mary Rose. This is the more difficult part and I would suggest
that Ginn, the publishers, are somewhat optimistic when the advertising
literature states that the program is suitable for children age
nine and upwards.
Let me put it another way: I, as well as "experts"
from my local MEP centre, have not yet successfully achieved any
really satisfactory result from this part of the program. But
then, how many times have we seen that children are far quicker
at solving these problems than adults? Remember the Rubik cube!
The user is now a diver with various search facilities at his
disposal. Before diving he must go through a check list of equipment
to ensure his safety. It is suggested in the documentation that
each diver, or group, devises a 3D model of the search site by
using uni-cubes or layers of squared acetate film, one for each
1/2m depth of dive.
The user now has to think and work in three dimensions and clear
the site of mud. Apart from the difficulty of thinking in 3D terms,
the other main difficulty is to ensure that the mud the diver
clears from one position is not transferred to a position he has
previously cleared.
Again, a considerable number of artefacts, such as cannons and
combs,
are there to be uncovered and raised to the surface. These are
illustrated in an excellent pack of resource materials produced
by the Mary Rose Trust, and the computer refers the children to
them when they have made discoveries.
A continuous read-out of duration of dive, depth of dive, remaining
air supply, and so on is given, but the main problem is orientation!
All results of this search are to be logged in the user's own
site map or model and should also be saved on a separate data
cassette or disc so that on return to the computer, time is not
wasted going over old ground. Results of searches by individuals
or groups may then be shared.
All this, of course, presupposes a fair degree of competency
in computer management on the part of the class teacher.
A program of this nature can, indeed, last for many weeks when
used as part of an overall class project, and will easily diversify
itself across the whole curriculum.
At £32.50, the program may at first seem expensive when
viewed in the light of present educational spending stringencies.
Nevertheless, it is supplied with commendable documentation and
support material.
With the current interest in the Mary Rose I can easily see
this program becoming a classic among educational software, as
Pac-man and its ilk were to games software. Overall, I consider
this program to be well worth the investment, and I look forward
to reviewing the other software from the Ginn stable.
Richard Jones
