Science Reviews

Any kid with siblings and a strong territorial sense will love this kit. It senses motion then sounds an alarm when someone--or something--walks near it. This easy-to-build "Learn by Doing" electronic kit lets kids build their own motion detector and intrusion alarm while learning about basic electronics, infrared sensors, and motion detector technology. It's educational, simple to construct, and fun to build. All you need is a soldering iron and wire cutters (available in AmeriKit AK-100) and initial adult assistance. Once assembled, the motion detector needs a 9-volt battery (not included) to function. --Chris Livesay

Ever wonder what it would be like to play Trivial Pursuit with Jules Verne? Well, take a seat around Peoples of the Planet, the time-traveling trivia game that lets intrepid anthropologists tiptoe around the globe, answering multiple-choice questions culled from world cultures past and present. Players attempt to assemble an "Explorer's Great Book of Ages" by correctly answering one question in each of nine time periods, from 3 million years B.C. to Y2K. Querying whether fennel seeds in England circa 1084 were used for invincibility, a popcorn-like snack, or odor-eaters or whether that five-ton meteorite that hit Russia in 1888 dissolved, was eaten by the locals, or has since been covered with vegetation, the deck of 252 Exploration Cards amuse, amaze, and educate. Factor in the ingenious formula for movement of tokens (there are dice, but no game board per se) and you'll be begging for a booster pack of question cards. Whether the subject is Mesopotamians or Manhattanites, Peoples of the Planet is out-of-this-world. --Tony Mason