Gary the Swamp Frog's Great Geometry Adventure

Operating Instructions

Gary the Swamp Frog's Great Geometry Adventure provides a fun way to help users of any age learn to identify shapes and objects, learn how to calculate volume, area, and perimeter, and learn how to solve word problems. There are five areas of play that contain a variety of questions that range from beginner difficulty to advanced difficulty. Each area has 15 levels of play, for a total of 75 levels of game play. Refer to the Teacher's Manual on the CD for an explanation of the tracking function and for more detailed descriptions of each game. The manual is available in a variety of formats, including HTML and PDF. Please note that the HTML and PDF versions contain screen shots that better facilitate use of the program. Therefore, if you have a web browser or Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may wish to view the HTML or PDF versions. To play the game, proceed as follows:

1. Start the program, and click past the opening screen.

2. To select a game, click on one of the areas on the Main Menu screen. To select Area 1, click on the area in the left corner denoted "Shape Wreck"; to select Area 2, click on the area denoted "Perimeter Castle," and so on. To review the Glossary, which provides detailed graphical, audio, and textual explanations of several geometry shapes and formulas, click on the Glossary button in the center of the screen. To open a saved game, click on the "Load" button. To save your game, click on the "Save" button and save the game to your hard drive.

3. Gary the Swamp Frog's Great Geometry Adventure also includes a tutorial feature that can be accessed from the Main Menu screen. The tutorial offers audio and visual explanations of the swamp game play. It demonstrates which animals to avoid, and which ones need to be caught.

4. Upon selecting an area of play, the user is transported to one of several different swamp game play screens. In all five areas, the user can develop strategic thinking and spatial navigation skills by learning to navigate through the swamp. In each swamp game play screen, the user will need to navigate Gary the Swamp Frog strategically, so that Shapewise's servant goons are avoided, and the swamp friends are caught and freed from Shapewise's control. Each of Shapewise's animal minions and servant goons has a specific movement pattern that the user can learn to analyze, predict, and outsmart.

5. To cause Gary to move, the user should click the mouse on any of the adjacent lily pads, stones, or turtles, depending on the area of play. The user may only move to an adjacent space; skipping over spaces or over water is not allowed. However, while Gary is in the process of jumping to the space, the user may click on their next intended move. In that way, it may be easier for the user to outsmart Shapewise's servant goons.

6. After intercepting a servant goon or swamp friend, the user will be transported to the Question and Answer screen. In Area 1, the user will be asked to identify a shape or object; in the other areas, the user will be asked to solve for the perimeter, area, or volume of a specific shape or object.

7. If Gary has been intercepted by a servant goon, the user will need to answer a question correctly in order to withstand Shapewise's control. If the question is answered correctly, the user is transported back to the swamp game play screen. If the question is answered incorrectly, another question is given to the user. If the user continues to answer questions incorrectly, Gary loses his ability to withstand Shapewise's control and the user is transported back to the Main Menu screen. If Gary has intercepted one of his swamp friends, the user will need to answer a question correctly to free the animal from Shapewise's control. If the question is answered correctly, the user will be transported back to the swamp game play screen and game play will resume. If the question is answered incorrectly, the user will be transported back to the swamp game play screen, but the swamp friend Gary intercepted will be returned to the swamp game play screen.

8. Each of the game screens provide a number of different function buttons to facilitate use of the program. The green "?" buttons, found in the right portion of the Main Menu and Swamp Game Play screens and the lower left portion of the Question and Answer screen, provides a general help message at any time during the game. To turn the program's background music on and off, click on the green note button. To return to the Main Menu screen, click on the "Back" button. To quit the game, click on the "Exit" button in the lower right portion of the Main Menu screen. Because this is a Teacher's Edition, after clicking on the "Exit" button, the program proceeds to the "Tracking" screen, which gives you the option of saving and/or printing a record of the user's experience with the program.

Troubleshooting Problems and Answers

Problem: The program runs slowly on my computer.

Answer: This occurs on some system configurations with 4 Megabytes of RAM. If increasing virtual memory is not effective, restarting with extensions off (by holding down the SHIFT key as the computer is turned on) or quitting all other open applications may help. You can also have a qualified technician add additional RAM.

Problem: The help buttons do not work; I can't hear any of the clues being given.

Answer: All of these messages are audio. Therefore, if you have a computer that does not have a sound card, when you click on these buttons, nothing will happen. However, you should be able to operate the software without these messages by consulting the "Operating Instructions" and the "Teacher's Manual", or simply by experimenting with the program.

Problem: The "Save" button in the "Save" dialogue box is inactive ("grayed out"), and I cannot save my game or tracking information.

Answer: You might be trying to save to a CD-ROM or locked diskette. Designate a different location for the saved document (e.g., a folder on your hard drive).

Problem: When I attempted to print my tracking information, I received an error message.

Answer: If there is no printer set up with your computer, you may receive an error message. If you do have a printer, check your printer settings and connections.

Problem: When I attempted to load a saved game on my Windows� computer, the dialog box disappeared and I could not use the program.

Answer: When you click on the "Load" button, a dialog box asking you to choose the correct text file will appear. If you happen to click anywhere outside the dialog box, the window will disappear and a game cannot be selected. If this happens, type CTRL-ALT-DELETE, and in the window that appears, click the "End Task" button. The dialog box will reappear and you may load your saved game.

Problem: I left Gary the Swamp Frog's Great Geometry Adventure running; when I returned, my swamp had disappeared.

Answer: If your screen saver is activated while the the program is running, a portion of your screen may disappear. If your screen saver interferes with regular game play, try disengaging the screen saver program.