Britannica Kids: Ancient Rome
Images, maps, and games somewhat overshadowed by heavy text
Take a look inside 4 images
Britannica Kids: Ancient Rome
Pros: Articles are well-written and pop up difficult vocabulary words.
Cons: Not much chance for critical thinking, as it's mostly articles and pictures.
Bottom Line: Britannica Kids: Ancient Rome is an uncomplicated reference tool for looking up facts and vocabulary.
Teachers looking for a kid-friendly reference tool might find Britannica Kids: Ancient Rome helpful, but it's best used as a supplement to more involved activities. You do get a few fun activities that encourage kids to spend more time interacting with the material. For example, a satellite map of the world lets kids explore Ancient Roman landmarks and historical locations by tapping tags to see images. A multiple-choice review quiz includes questions like, "What does the emperor Caligula's name mean?" and "What were the Roman household gods called?" Unfortunately, kids get no constructive or informative feedback on quiz results -- that's up to you.
Editor's Note: Britannica Kids: Ancient Rome is no longer available.
Britannica Kids: Ancient Rome contains articles adapted from the Britannica Student Encyclopedia on ancient Rome. Articles are broken down into subsections, and key concepts are highlighted with pop-up definitions. Articles, which are concise and digestible, cover topics from "The Rise of Rome" to "Art and Architecture" to "Roman Mythology." Each one has illustrations and highlighted keywords, which pop up definitions when they're tapped. Kids can turn any image into jigsaw or sliding puzzles and map landmarks on an interactive map to get a more realistic sense of the Roman Empire's size. Seventy-five color images of gods, architecture, and other aspects of Ancient Rome enliven things a bit, and there's a video showing scenes of Roman landmarks.
The Play menu lets you interact with the content in fun and familiar ways. For example, in addition to the puzzles, kids can "brush off" sand to reveal an image, then name the image. They can also test their memories with an Ancient Rome image concentration game.
Britannica Kids: Ancient Rome is a handy reference tool, and kids can read a wealth of historical information, but there's little support for students to make connections to events in their own lives. It's also heavy on text and light on interactivity. More features that allow kids to bookmark articles, highlight and annotate text, or connect to more rich multimedia content would be ideal.
Learning Rating
Community Rating
Great app for ancient Rome!
This is a great tool for teachers who need to cover the vast Roman Empire. This app allows teachers to consolidate material and save time. Many of the activities included in this app are engaging and relevant.