You are likely to have heard the name Netherhall Software before as this is the school that produced a number of the programs in the BBC's Welcome package. They have also contributed software to the MEP packages that are supplied to schools and it is really to those in educational establishments that this group of programs is likely to appeal. Whilst the home user might be able to use certain of the packages I really doubt that they would be able to get value for money from them.

The Balance Your Diet program is meant to be used in Health Education or possible Home Economics teaching. The idea is that you type in code representing your diet for a day and you are given a read out of the amounts and ratios of protein, fat, carbohydrate and fibre that the food contained. As you are also asked for your age and sex this is then related to a norm and the resultant over or under consumption is noted. The program is well error trapped and fairly interesting although I do find the input a little tedious as there are a great many codes to be searched through. A good workmanlike, if slightly staid, program.

Watts In Your Home is a very similar program but this time you input the type of appliances that you have and how long they are in use for and the program will give readout of the cost and the ratios of the various fuel types that you have used. There is the opportunity to input two lists of uses and then compare the costs of the two. This means that heating a room by using different fuels can be compared and it is possible to see the value of fuel conservation. As with some of the other programs there are a number of pupils worksheet specimens provided and you are allowed to copy these for use with the program. There is little doubt that a package such as this can make understanding fuel consumption much easier than by the pen/paper method.

The most fascinating program in this collection, for me at least, is the Moving Molecules disc. The programs demonstrate, using the BBC's: extensive graphic commands, how pressure and temperature changes affect the behaviour of gases, liquids and solids. One program shows the phase changes of molecules at different temperatures, another diffusion in gases and liquids and the final ones with variations in pressure, temperature and volume. All of the programs rely on a display of the molecules at the various stages selected and this is a very good visual representation indeed. I have to admit that I have put this program on just to watch the molecules move! I really believe that this program will help a vast number of children to visualise the 'kinetic theory' in a manner that would not be possible using static pictures and would recommend its use in most 13-18 physics syllabuses.

The programs about map skills also use the graphics to very good effect, in fact I'm prepared to say that these are the best graphical and educational programs that I have seen. The first disc covers two areas, grid references and scales with the second covering the use of compass points and bearings. Both packages contain well planned worksheets to accompany the programs and these are reproduceable for classes using them. The grid references section is to a large extent a moving teaching aid with full descriptive notes. There are practice examples and, unusually for a number of educational programs, there is a full explanation available if you got the answer wrong.

I particularly like the program about scales which can display the same, admittedly simple, map in four different scale sizes. There are also sections on the representative fraction and others which allow you to enlarge or reduce the map at will. The Compass-based disc requires much more input from the user and is both a teaching and a testing package.

The final part of this section is a game called Yacht Race in which you can sail your yacht, in competition against another student if you so desire, around an irregular course. The direction, as compass points or bearings, and distance have to be input and the winner is the first to cross the line to the sound of the cannon. In all, another excellent package.

There is no doubt that these are all packages of serious software and what they lack in immediate appeal, as far as the casual observer is concerned, they make up for in soundness of conception and teaching quality. If you are interested in using computers across the curriculum, you could do much worse than to try these packages.