Published by The Learning Center, One Aathenaeum Street, Camridge, MA 02142, customer service number (800) 227-5609 or (617) 494-1200. E-mail address: support@learningco.com. The web site: www.learningco.com.
The 3rd Grade Adventures is a CD-ROM that is compatible to both Windows and Macintosh. The cost is $19.96.
[Back to Multimedia Reviews Index Page]The ClueFinder's quest is a journey through a rain forest that is divided into four sections. Each one of these sections contains problems from a different curriculum area. The four sections of the game are as follows:
The Monkey Kingdom: Mathematics-The players must earn sneezeberries and find a golden key to solve the mystery. They must solve puzzles involving these elements:
The Goo Lagoon: Logic-The players must earn bags of goo beetles before they can find a golden key. The solve problems in the following areas:
The Lost City: Science, Reading, and Language Arts- Once inside the Lost City, the players must use reading skills as they solve problems in the following areas:
The ClueFinders are Joni, Santiago, Leslie, and Owen. Joni's uncle, Uncle Horace, has disappeared. He is a well-known scientist and he was about to reveal an explanation for strange happenings in the rain forest. The area was becoming polluted and he knew why. There is an ancient legend about Mathra, a monster who was believed to have terrorized the inhabitants of the area. In order to solve the mystery, they must find the two keys.
There is also a practice mode. This area is set up so that you can work and solve problems and you don't have to travel through the rain forest. The player can enter this area from the sign on screen. The player can choose the level of difficulty from the four mentioned above. There is a special version of the rain forest map that the player can click on to solve problems in that area. Since the player is in the practice mode, he/she will not be expected to collect beetles or sneezeberries. These will be supplied. All the player has to do here is solve problems and puzzles.
Upon entering the Rain Forest, the player must select the level of difficulty. The four levels are as follows:
They can select the level appropriate for each section. If they are more advanced in one area over another, they can select a higher level in that area.
The game is very easy to use. I allowed my son to try out the game first and he mastered the game in no time.
I enjoyed taking the path and solving the problems also. The cursor arrow becomes large green to mark the paths. Leslie and Owen assist you during the game. You simply click on the video phone that Santiago is carrying. During the journey, some of the rain forest creatures ask for assistance in solving their problems. They give you very specific directions of how to help them. The player simply clicks on the animals if they need to hear the directions again.
Lap Trap accompanies the two explorers on their quest. He is a resource for a lot of information. The player just has to click on Lap Trap and then click on the item that they need help on. The icons of Lap Trap are: The leveling button takes the player to the levels screen where the player can change the level if the problems are too hard or too easy. The progress report shows (1) the percentage of correct answers and (2) the number of tries and correct answers.
The map shows the four areas of the rain forest. Small icons mark the specific places that the player can go. The player can identify which places that they need to collect things next. They cannot move to another area from this screen. They will have to go back to where they were.
The settings button can help the player if the game speed seems to slow. The player can click on quit game to stop playing. The player can turn the music on or off by clicking the music on off icon.
There is a CD booklet that fits inside the CD case that offers information on how to play the game and other important information on the technical aspects such as installation and systems requirements.
Windows
Macintosh
I would definitely recommend this CD for a collection. It is fun and easy to master. It makes learning so much fun. The players spend so much time working the puzzles and solving the problems. The players are having so much fun that they don't realize how much learning is taking place. They probably wouldn't sit around doing homework for hours at a time, but they certainly would have fun with this highly interactive multimedia program. I would certainly recommend this for the home collection and the school media center as well. The CD can be used in school to help the children learn to navigate through the computer and learn curriculum at the same time.