They're Baaaaack!
A Review of The Great Math Adventure
Brenda Prefling
A few months ago we had The Great Reading Adventure, and it was a wonderful educational and fun program. So when wesaw The Great Math Adventure we were eager to try it out. We were not disappointed at all!!! This math program is just asmuch fun for children as the reading program. These are very well done programs, with great graphics, characters, problems tosolve, and very easy for children to use.
This program has the same three fun characters of Lil’ Howie, Stinky and Digibot. They all have distinctive characters, and fun dialog among the three of them. There is also Lil’ Howie’s sister Sarah Bear for help when needed. She explainsconcepts, vocabulary, and how to get in and out of any activity. The jokes and hot spots are very entertaining, and my daughterreally enjoys listening to the characters. She finds them to be very funny and laughs at all the silly jokes.
There are five skill levels in each game. In the opening sign in sequence the child enters their age and that sets up the skilllevel for each game. If you would like for your child to have an easier level or more difficult level you can change the skilllevel in all the games or in particular games by going to the Scoring Page. In each level there is an approximate score for thechild to achieve. This determines what certificate the child will receive when he or she finishes The Great Math Adventure. Eachlevel is another adventure with another certificate possible. They also receive a trophy which Lil’ Howie keeps in the trophycase for them. The certificate can even be turned into wallpaper for the computer, and there are easy to follow instructions fordoing that.
Signing in was a surprise for my daughter and me, because when we started to sign her in the game already knew her name and nickname from The Great Reading Adventure!! We just could not figure out how Lil’ Howie rememberedher!! So after signing in you start off in the library where the characters give you all the instructions you need to get started onthe adventure. If you do not want to go on the adventure that Lil’ Howie wants to take you on, then you can choose Not!,which is freeplay. The child can then go to any game area that she chooses. They still receive points that count for thecertificate.
You start off in the maze. Lil’ Howie is driving and Digibot announces your destination. You will have to solve a math problembefore you can continue. After you solve the problem you must enter the correct launch code and Digibot will explain how toset the code. Then you are on your way!
At the Ice Cream Machine there is a conveyer belt that has to be powered by Stinky pedaling, and you putting blocksof ice into numerical order. Depending on the age and level you are playing at the numbers could be single digit on up totriple digit numbers that are out of order. When you get them into the right order, Stinky gets a scoop of ice cream and keepsgetting a fatter tummy.
Blasteroids is a shooting game with mines and Stink Pods. They each have a value and the Stink Pod’s value must equal the value of the space mine. Stinky can shoot at asteroids to change the value of the Stink Pod. Blue asteroids add valueto the Stink Pod and red asteroids subtract value from the Stink Pod. My daughter does not like shooting games too much, soshe does not choose this game too often. But the math concept is important so I do encourage her to play it sometimes.
Soaker is another shooting game with water guns. Lil’ Howie must shoot the correct answer to an equation. When youget the right answer Stinky gets soaked. Some of Lil’ Howie’s friends hold up cards with answers on them and you justpoint the cursor at the target and click the mouse button to send out a stream of water. If you choose the incorrect answer youcan choose again.
Catch A Match is a game like Concentration with math problems and answers behind the squares. Now my daughter does like this game and will sit for a long time trying to figure it out. She sometimes has to have a paper and pencil nextto her to actually do the math problems, but she does not seem to mind. She likes to try to remember where she saw thatanswer that goes with that problem. This is good for memory skills also.
Fractionizer took us a little longer to figure out than some of the other games. But once we saw what we were supposedto do, it was fun and did take some thinking on my daughter’s part. Understanding the concept of how the fractionswere inter-changeable and could be added together was interesting to her. You are making blocks of wood that are cut intodifferent pieces into the size piece that the instructions need to build a wall. This was some good mental math work.
The Big Time covers time, days of the week, and the months of the year. You have to put together a clock by putting the numbers and hands in the correct places on the face of the clock. Then set the clock to certain times that Digibot tellyou. Then you have to arrange the days of the week and the months of the year in the proper order on the calendar. ThenStinky goes into the Time Machine and you have to set the clock and calendar to the time period that Stinky lands into.
All of these games incorporate important math concepts for children in this age range to master. They are all done in a fun andentertaining way, but still have lots of learning value to them. The instructions are very easy to understand and the point andclick arrangement is very easy. The music, pictures, and characters are all an important part of making this a game that yourchildren will play over and over again.
School House Scorecard
| Product: |
The Great Math Adventure |
| Company: |
7th Level, Inc.
|
| Cost: |
$39.95 |
System Requirements:
IBM:
Double Speed CD-ROM drive, 486DX/33 (66Mhz recommended),
8MB RAM, 256 color SVGA, Windows 3.1 or Windows 95,
mouse, sound card, and speakers.
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 5
Learning Value 5
Entertainment Value 5
Graphics 5
Sound 5
Overall Score:
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