Introduction
Presenting new concepts to students is one thing - getting them to internalize the concepts through practice is another. In line with our philosophy that varied practice is critical to seeing what is essential to a concept, WORD PROBLEM FUN provides, in a game setting that's like a cross between monoply and maze searches, a range of problems covering the core of elementary and middle school math: WHOLE NUMBERS, FRACTIONS, DECIMALS, PERCENTS, RATIOS & PROPORTIONS, NEGATIVE NUMBERS, TIME, LENGTH, AREA, VOLUME, WEIGHT, ANGLES and GRAPHS & TABLES, along with other higher-order skills woven throughout the exercises. Problems are generated randomly so you have an unlimited supply of problems. Mazes are also generated randomly, so no two will be the same. To get an overview of the program, choose MIXED from the main menu and you will get problems chosen randomly from amongst all topics.
The Game
You and your fellow archaeologists have landed on Prospero's Island in the Mediterranean looking for lost treasure in underground caves and labyrinths. You each start with $25,000. As you move around the island, you can enter caves if you supply the secret password (see MATH PROBLEMS below). If you collect all the treasures in a cave you get to own it and can then charge any other player who lands on it a fee of $1000 for each cave that you own (e.g., if you own 5 caves they must pay you $5000). Once that player pays the fee, however, they can enter a new part of the cave and, if they collect all the treasures there, the cave is now theirs. If you land on a cave that you already own, you can also search for treasure in a new part of the cave. If you lose a robot the cave will still be yours. When a cave is solved, it is replaced with a new one. Caves are generated randomly so there is an unlimited supply, each one different. Most caves are viewed from a top-down perspective. The exceptions are those with falling objects, which are side views. Because of the danger, you are using ground-penetrating radar to guide a remote-controlled robot to dig through the caves. You must get to the treasure and out of the cave before the robot is destroyed by one of the many dangers: falling boulders, lava pits that spring up as you dig, underground creatures that don't like intruders, ice caverns, underground rivers and tubes left by some ancient civilization. Your robot comes with a laser that works in all caves except the one with the red bricks (due to magnetic interference). The laser has two charges that are replenished after each cave. Use the spacebar to fire the laser in the direction that the robot is currently facing. Don't hold it down too long, though, or you will fire both at the same time. The laser is made for blasting through walls, so it only fires a short distance. Use the arrow keys to control your robot, the Esc key to exit. When moving downwards, you can avoid falling rocks by keeping one finger on the down arrow and pressing a right or left arrow when you get to a side tunnel. With the creatures, observing how they move may help you avoid them. If you lose a robot it costs $1000 to replace it. Up to four people can play. The game continues as long as you want. You may want to set your own criteria for winning, for example the high score when the first player runs out of money, or when all but one player runs out of money, or when the highest score reaches a certain point. If playing by yourself, you may want to select two or more playing pieces and have them compete against each other.
Cave Difficulty
Cave difficulty is determined by your choice of BEGINNER, INTERMEDIATE or ADVANCED levels. At the BEGINNER level, the entire cave is visible on the screen at one time. At the INTERMEDIATE level, caves are larger than screen size in the vertical direction. At the ADVANCED level, caves are larger than screen size in both directions.
Math Problems
As mentioned above, to enter and solve a cave you must first provide the secret password, which is the answer to a math problem. Problem difficulty is determined by your choice of topic. WHOLES, FRACTIONS and DECIMALS are 1-step problems - you need to decide whether to add, subtract, multiply or divide. All other topics are multi-step: PERCENTS, RATIOS & PROPORTIONS, NEGATIVE NUMBERS, TIME, LENGTH, AREA, VOLUME, WEIGHT, ANGLES, GRAPHS & TABLES. If you choose MIXED, problems will be selected randomly from all topics. In line with our philosophy that varied practice is critical to seeing what is essential to a concept, each topic has a range of problem types and, since numbers are chosen randomly, you have an unlimited supply of problems.
Keyboard Equivalents
For menu buttons, the keyboard equivalent is the first letter of the name, for example [F] or [f] for FRACTIONS. Since AREA and ANGLES have the same first letter, use [A] or [a] for AREA and [X] or [x] for ANGLES. In the game, use the [Enter] key for single buttons like [Red's Turn] , [Move], [Continue], etc. If there are two keys, use [Enter] for the first, for example [Enter Cave], the first letter for the second, for example: [P] or [p] for [Pass]. Keyboard equivalents for the calculator are below.
The Calculator
To help you with the math problems, an on-screen calculator is provided so you can concentrate on the main concepts without getting sidetracked by tedious calculations. The calculator works like most hand calculators, plus it does fractions and has a [Store] function to save intermediate totals. Like most calculators, it updates the current total when you press a new operation: +, -, x, /. That operation will be in effect for the next number that you input. For example, if you type "30 + 8 x 2", after you type "x" the calculator will show the result of the last operation on the last number, i.e. "38". After you type "2" it will still show "38". You need to type in a new operation (if there are more numbers) or [=] for the result of "x2" (76) to be shown. As long as you press +, -, x, or / the next number will become part of the current total. If you want to start a new total, press [=], which gives the current total, or clear [C], which resets the current total to 0. Note that [C] does not clear the [Store] area. To clear that, put "0" on the screen and press [Store]. Also note that each new operation is done on the current total. If you want to calculate "30 + (8 x 2) + (3 x 5)" you cannot type in "30 + 8 x 2 +..." because 30 will be added to 8 and then 38 will be multiplied by 2, etc. To do complex calculations like products amongst sums, you need to do each part as a separate subtotal, then store it. For example, type " 8 x 2 = " then [Store]. The [=] is necessary to update the screen, since [Store] saves whatever is showing on the screen. You can then do " 3 x 5 = " and "15" will show on the screen. Then do " + [Recall] = ". After you press [Recall] the screen will display what you have stored (16). When you press [=] the stored amount will be added to the current total (15), and 31 will be displayed. If there are more subtotals to calculate you can [Store] the current result (31) and continue. To input a negative number you need to type the number, for example "55", then press the [+/-] key, which multiplies the number showing on the screen by -1. Pressing [+/-] when a negative number is showing will make it positive. (Note that pressing [+/-] before the number will not work since, if no number is showing, you will be multiplying 0 by -1, which is still 0).
Fractions
The [/] button is for division. The [Fraction /] button is for inputting fractions. For example, to input 2 1/3 type "2 [Space] 1 [Fraction /] 3". Note that the [Space] button is necessary between a whole number and a fraction. Otherwise the number will be read as an improper fraction (21/3 or 7).
Numbers input with [Fraction /], which will show up on the calculator screen as "/", will be read as fractions. If any part of a number has a decimal, however, the result will be converted to decimal. For example, "8 + 1.2 / 2.4" or "8.25 + 1 / 4" will be converted to "8.5". If a fraction is input improperly, only what is readable will be used. For example, "2 1" or "2 1/" will be read as 2. "8/" will be read as 8. If all of a fraction is unreadable it will be read as 0.
Since numbers input as
decimals will be read as decimals and numbers input with [Fraction
/] will be read as fractions, the "Fraction mode"
button will only make a difference in ambiguous cases, primarily
whole number division. For example, if the "Fraction mode"
button is off (button gray),
" 12 / 5 = " will be displayed as "2.4". If
the "Fraction mode" button is on (button yellow)
" 12 / 5 = " will be displayed as "2 2/5".
Here "/" means the division operation.
The calculator is accurate to 8 decimal places. If the whole and decimal part of a number cannot fit on the calculator's screen, the decimal will be truncated to fit, but internally its full accuracy will still be used for calculations. If, however, a whole number or fraction is too large to fit on screen, the screen will display "overflow" and the current total reset to 0. What is [Save]d will not be affected. This should not happen, however, with any of the problems in the game.
Once you have a final result on screen, press [Enter] and the program will check to see if it is the secret code to enter that cave.
Keyboard Equivalents for Calculator
First, the [Caps Lock] key should be off so lower and upper case keys wil be read accurately. Number keys are for their respective numbers. The [space] bar is for fraction spaces, [F] or [f] is for [Fraction /], which you use for inputting fractions (e.g., to input 5 2/3 you type " 5 [Space] 2 [Fraction /] 3 "). The [=], [C] or [c] and [Enter] keys are for their respective buttons. The [Esc] key is for [Quit]. [M] or [m] toggles "Fraction mode". [S] or [s] is for [Store]. [R] or [r] is for [Recall]. The combination [Shift][-] is for [+/-], which multiplies the number by -1 to change its sign. For the operation buttons, [Shift][+] is for add, [-] for subtract, [X] or [x] for multiply and [/] for divide. Remember that [F] or [f] is for [Fraction /].
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