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Totally AMOS - Issue 1 (1991-11)(Tucker, Len - Tucker, Anne).adf
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learning_and_playing.seq
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1991-09-02
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^4EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
^6@2LEARNING AND PLAYING.@
^4EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
^1 Most people will agree that as time goes by, more and more use is
^1being made of the computer's ability to help teachers in the
^1classroom. Indeed computer literacy is a very important skill in
^1many aspects of life.
^6 Children these days do not hold computers in awe as older people do,
^6they are not afraid to touch the keyboard, they know that it will not
^6bite!
^1 So, what better way to reinforce the skills they need to achieve
^1than by letting them use the Amiga at home. Thanks to Amos, there is
^1now more educational software available than ever before, and most of
^1it is at a realistic price, thanks to Déjà Vu Software.
^6 Over the last year Sandra Sharkey has gathered a good variety of
^6programs, some are Licenseware, some are Public Domain. We shall
^6have a look and tell you what we think can be learnt by playing
^6/using them.
^2 As you've probably guessed by now, we enjoy writing educational
^2programs, even the ones not intended as such, seem to have been
^2included in educational reviews! Still, it has been said that you
^2can find something educational in lots of games. (ref Pat Winstanley
^2in Amiga Shopper's education spot).
^7 We are interested to hear about any other educational software
^7written with Amos, so if you find some, please drop us a line/file
^7with a description and what you think of it.
^6[3LPD 1 [1^2Colouring Book by Trevor Prince[0
^1 This program is for the little ones who go through colouring books
^1faster than you can buy them! Here they can colour in any of the 6
^1pictures over and over again saving the best to disk, all for the
^1cost of £3.50p
^6[3LPD 2 [1^2Arc Angel's Maths by Arc Angel[0
^1 This is a maths program for beginners, the presentation is clear
^1with a graphical display of the sums. It's not the most graphically
^1pleasing program, but it does serve its purpose, we are told that a
^1second version may replace this one in the future.
^6[3LPD 4 [1^2Thingamajig by Sparx[0
^1 This is an introduction to jigsaw puzzles, and as the teaching of
^1reading revolves around recognising shapes, it can help here. There
^1are 24 puzzles to choose from and 2 levels of ability for each. The
^1easy option gives a screen with the outlines of the shapes for you to
^1match with the shape on the pointer, the hard option gives you a
^1blank puzzle tray, and you have to do the rest.
^6[3LPD 5 [1^2Jungle Bungle by Sparx[0
^1 This is an adventure game where you are left in the jungle after a
^1plane crash, and have to find your way out by solving problems. This
^1encorages logical thought and decision making. You have to remember
^1to gather food and water at the same time as finding out the items
^1that you need to exchange with the people you meet for information.
^6[3LPD 8 [1^2Work & Play by Sparx[0
^1 This is a set of 3 learning programs on different themes. The
^1first, Fun Times Tables, deals with the times tables by the means of
^1a board game which can be 1 or 2 player, each player being able to
^1play at their own skill level.
^1 The second, Let's Go Shopping, is a mental arithmetic trainer where
^1you are asked questions about money and what it can buy in different
^1ways.
^1 Lastly, there is a game to teach the time, both with an ordinary
^1clock and a digital watch, you choose one type to set, and the other
^1one changes time with it. Every time you answer correctly, the mouse
^1creeps past the sleeping cat to get the cheese, the cat wakes up
^1after a wrong answer.
^6[3LPD 10 [1^2The Word Factory by Delwyn Farr[0
^1 This is a novel way of getting kids to learn spelling. You are
^1given 5 seconds to look at a word, then you are taken into the word
^1factory where you must select the correct letter blocks and put them
^1onto the conveyor belt for loading into the truck.
^1 The program is totally joystick controlled so you won't have to
^1worry about sticky fingers on your keyboard!
^6[3LPD 14 [1^2Play It Safe by Sparx[0
^1 This program tries to teach both children and adults about the
^1dangers that can be found around the home and garden, in the car, on
^1the street and in the park. The idea is that these places have been
^1invaded by beasties which have made them unsafe. You have to help
^1the Teddy to find 5 hazzards in each place so that the family can go
^1back home. There is a random factor so that the dangers are
^1different each time you play.
^6[3LPD 15 [1^2Arc Angel's Shapes by Arc Angel[0
^1 Fuzzy Felts have been around for a long time, and will be for a long
^1time yet, I imagine. The only thing I've never liked about them is
^1that those little coloured shapes never stay in their box! Now all
^1that has changed with Arc Angel's shapes. Here the shapes are all on
^1the screen and they can be put down and changed around without losing
^1any. Little kids will love making pictures with this program.
^6[3LPD 18 [1^2Touchstones by Spence Davies[0
^1 If matching shapes is an aid to the learning process, then
^1Touchstones can be classed as an educational program as well as a
^1rather addictive game. You have to place a patterned stone down on
^1the game board so that it make a match with the adjacent stone on at
^1least one of its sides, the more sides that match, the more points
^1you get. The aim is to place all of the stones before running out of
^1matching places. Logical thought comes in as well as the next few
^1stones in the pile are shown so that you can plan your moves.
^6[3LPD 21 [1^2Quingo by M.J. Fascione[0
^1 Brush up on your general knowledge with this hybrid of a Quiz and
^1good old Bingo. You answer questions in order to mark off numbers on
^1your card. There are 3,000 questions, so there won't be a chance of
^1boredom from endless repetition of the same questions.
^6[3LPD 26 [1^2C.Y.A.D. by Jamez Newcombe[0
^1 This is another game which could be classed as having an educational
^1application. It involves moving C.Y.A.D. around the various mazes,
^1collecting diamonds. The tricky bit is making full use of the
^1switches and special features which you will need to complete the
^1game. If you know you've blown it, you can quit a level and start it
^1again without losing the scores from any already completed. This
^1game teaches logical thought and aids memory, as it helps to remember
^1where you went wrong last time!
^6[3LPD 27 [1^2Flower Power by Sparx[0
^1 This game was never meant to be more than a bit of fun, but other
^1people seem to see it from a different angle. It does involve
^1thinking through events in the right sequence, so it does teach
^1something. The gardener in the story has to grow flowers to enter
^1the local show, he must dig the earth, sow the seeds and water the
^1growing plants before he can pick them and take them to the show. As
^1in all gardens, there are pests who will eat your prize blooms, you
^1don't kill them, you just scare them away.
^6[3LPD 29 [1^2Big Top Fun by Sparx[0
^1 The setting is the circus, and there are four `acts' here for you to
^1choose from, each with its own progam on a theme of words and
^1pictures.
^1 The first act is the juggler, you have to help him balance on his
^1unicycle by matching the word he is holding with a picture. If
^1right, he cycles off for a new word, if wrong he wobbles and drops
^1the picture.
^1 In the next act, you have to turn over two cards to match either two
^1pictures, a picture and a word or two words, as in the traditional
^1pairs game.
^1 In Sealagrams, a clown throws balls onto the noses of seals. Each
^1ball has a letter and by clicking on the seals' heads, the letters
^1can be changed around until a word is spelt. Help is available if
^1you're stuck, you can have a quick look at a picture of the word you
^1are trying to make.
^1 Balloon burst is another spelling game, you are given a picture and
^1a line of balloons float onto the screen. You have to make the clown
^1shoot the balloons which have the letters making up the word in the
^1picture. They do not have to be in the right order, and there is no
^1penalty for a wrong choice. This game will help children to pick out
^1letters which make up a word.
^6[3LPD 30 [1^2Shymer by Jeff Tullin[0
^1 Shymer is an adventure for kids. It is an illustrated text
^1adventure, very colourful and full of little problems to be solved.
^1It is set in the land of Nursree, and the task is to sort out all the
^1nursery rhymes which have been muddled up. There are plenty of
^1places to go and many people to talk to.
^1 Adventures can teach a lot, logical thinking, problem solving,
^1understanding directions.....and patience! If played as a group, an
^1adventure will encouage co-operation and communicating skills.
^6[3LPD 37 [1^2Rocket Maths by Delwyn Farr[0
^1 Rocket Maths is a program set out into four parts, Take Off, The
^1Star Map, The Rock Storm and The Landing.
^1 You have a choice of add, taking away, multiply and divide, also
^1three skill levels and four lives to complete the program.
^1 You lose a life for giving the wrong answer, but if you are right,
^1you will see your spaceman enter his spaceship and take off. In the
^1Star Map section you can move from planet to planet by getting the
^1questions right. When in the rock storm, you must avoid the rocks by
^1getting the sums right, a wrong answer means that you collide with
^1them. The last part of the program is a bonus level, you can get
^1extra points by landing your craft correctly.
^1 This is a good way of getting children to learn as they play, they
^1will enjoy the game and not realise thsat they are doing the work
^1they don't always enjoy in school!
^6[3LPD 45 [1^2Music Box by Colin Naylor[0
^1 This is a great program to teach kids, or anyone else, the basics of
^1music. Music Box includes a teaching section, which gives some basic
^1information on music, set out in a very clear way. There is a
^1section on how to use the program itself, and the actual program.
^1 The program gives you a sheet of music, and you can make your own
^1music by clicking on the note length and placing it onto the page.
^1You can hear the note, even have it labelled with its name, and mix
^1your own combination of instruments to play your tune. There are
^1several tunes on the disk for you to load and play, so you can see
^1what can be done with this lovely program.
^4[3APD 2 [1^6Treasure Search by Peter Hickman.[0
^2 This educational game is by Peter Hickman, and as you can see from
^2the disk number, has been around since the start of AMOS.
^2 Unfortunately, I haven't seen this game myself, so have had to rely
^2on other sources for the information.
^2 Quote from Sandra's PD catalogue, Nov 1990.
^2 "Hunt for treasure in this clever educational co-ordinates game.
^2Excellent sound and graphics make tis game fun for everyone from 2 to
^292!"
^2 Mapping plays a big part of maths these days, so Treasure Hunt would
^2be very useful to reinforce what is being learnt at school.
^4[3APD 135 [1^6Simon Says & Space Maths[0
^2 This disk contains two programs.
^2 Simon Says is a version of the popular electronic game, where you
^2have to remember a given sequence of colours, and click on the
^2colours in the same order to progress onto the next sequence. The
^2number of colours in the sequence increases every time you get it
^2right.
^2 Space Maths caters for all ages, from the under 5's to over 16's.
^2You can choose your type of sums, and the amount of sums that you
^2answer. If you choose to answer 5 or more, and you get them all
^2correct, you can gain extra bonus points by shooting the alien.
^2 This program is a straightforward question style game with the added
^2touch of a mini game at the end.
^4[3APD 136 [1^6Maths Calculator[0
^2 The maths calculator contains quite a few features, some of the
^2options give you ten sums to answer, e.g. addition, subtraction,
^2fractions to percentages etc. while the others calculte the area and
^2volume of shapes for you. It's a good idea, but some parts can be
^2used to do your homework for you rather than checking your own
^2calculations!
^4[3APD 237 [1^6Shapes by M. Archer.[0
^2 This is an excellent puzzle game which will stretch your little grey
^2cells. The aim is to fill the black area of the screen using the
^2shapes displayed at the bottom of the screen. You have a limited
^2number of each shape, you can take the shapes out of the frame and
^2rearrange them but you have to remember that you have a time limit.
^2 Puzzle games are always fun and can teach various skills depending
^2on the type of puzzle. This one helps to teach awareness of shapes
^2and how different shapes fit together to form a new shape, as well as
^2that, it's fun!
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