Technology Review: Plum Landing

The PLUM LANDING website and apps are a companion to the popular PBS Kids program focusing on environmental science.

Designed for ages six through nine, the website contains a wide range of motivating science activities.

The Games section includes over a dozen games that encourage children to play, explore, create, and share what they learn about our amazing planet. Children learn concepts related to soil, seeds, invasive species, ecosystems, and other fascinating topics.

The Videos section plays short, animated videos focusing on ecosystems such as the desert, jungle, and mountain regions.

The Ship section highlights the television program’s featured characters.

The Pictures section features images submitted by users of the Nature Sketchpad website and Plum’s Photo Hunt app.

The Parents section contains fun family adventure ideas and tips for getting families outdoors.

The Educators area provides curriculum resources including activities and media resources organized thematically and aligned to science standards.

Two apps allow children to extend the experience. The Plum’s Creaturizer app provides tools to build crazy creatures and Plum’s Photo Hunt encourages children to photograph wonders in their own backyard.

Build the Plum character into a primary grades library center focusing on environment science topics. Incorporate a tablet or laptop along with science books and objects related to nature themes.

To visit the website, go to http://pbskids.org/plumlanding/.

App Review: Plum's Photo Hunt

PLUM’S PHOTO HUNT is an engaging nature photo app for children from PBS Kids.

Part of the Plumb Landing environmental science PBS program, the app sends youth on missions outdoors to photograph interesting things in nature including weather, plants, and insects.

Aimed at children 6 through 9, app users are presented with three options: photo missions, photobombs, and field journal.

The Photo Missions area begins with instructions that are both text and read aloud. Youth choose from over a dozen missions such as looking for patterns and shadows in nature or seeking out animal habitats or unusual weather. The app activates the device camera allowing youth to take a photo of the requested nature element. Users can choose to save the photos.

The Photobombs section allows users to take photos with one of dozens of characters in the foreground. For instance, for a garden scene a child might select a character holding a watering can or if the student is photographing an insect a character holding a magnifying glass might be used. Youth can share their photos for possible use at the Plum Landing website.

The Field Journal allows children to save photos and text together to create an electronic field journal. Youth use photos they’ve taken within the program and add text. Additional pages can easily be added.

A parent button provides information for adults.

This easy-to-use app would be great for classroom science activities. However, keep in mind that separate user accounts aren’t generated so all the images are stored together on a single device.

To learn more about the PBS program, go to Plum Landing athttp://pbskids.org/plumlanding/.

To see the Plum Landing Picture Sharing areas, go tohttp://pbskids.org/plumlanding/pictures/.

To download the app, go to http://pbskids.org/apps/plums-photo-hunt.html.