Math facts... building blocks to the much larger world of mathematics. It takes practice to build flash memory of basic math facts that we use every day. Practice, practice, practice. That is exactly what Mega Math is designed to do. With games that range from low-key to frantic, matching any mood or personality, it makes the practice of math facts fun, encouraging players to think faster and practice longer.
But the computer can do much more than play video games. Mega Math is designed to use the full potential of a computer's ability to remember, analyze information, create reports, and even talk to the player. To bring these human characteristics to life, we created Dr. Krista, our intelligent talking teacher who records each player's progress, guides them with suggestions, and develops custom sets of equations to help individual players with their problem areas. Her advice, encouragement, and friendly guidance keep kids focused on the most important tasks.
For the parent or teacher who wants to focus on a very special group of facts, Mega Math allows you to change data. You can build your own set of facts or alter the order of the sets we have created. So, explore the options. Mega Math was created for both you and the kids. Enjoy!
SIGNING IN
Your first time in Mega Math, Dr. Krista will ask you to sign in and will display the sign-in area. Use the keyboard to enter your name, then press the enter key. the program will use the capitalization and spelling you enter on all your reports and certificates, so enter the information the way you would like to see it on your personal printouts. If you make a mistake or want to change the information, you can do it at the Knowledge Central.
Next you'll be asked to chose a partner to help you play each of the MegaMath games. Click on either Quarky or Quaysoo - doesn't matter which one. You can also change your partner at the Knowledge Central.
When a player returns to Mega Math, Dr. Krista will remember the last person who was playing the game. She will ask "Is this your name?" and display the current player name on the menu. If it is your name, click on the yes icon - you'll continue advancing where you last left off. If it is not your name, click on the no icon - you'll go to the Sign In window and select another existing player or create a new player.
Notice the red remote control in the upper left corner? This appears in almost every pop-up screen in the game. Clicking it will take you to the game options control panel.
CONTROL PANEL
Most pop-up screens in the game have a red remote control in the upper left corner. Click on it to access the control panel.
Press the upper left button to return to playing the game.
Press the Half-Dome image to see the game credits.
Press the stop sign to exit the game.
Use the up/down arrows to increase or decrease the game volume.
DR. KRISTA
After selecting a player, you arrive at the Knowledge Central and Dr. Krista pops up to ask which area you want to go to. From this menu Dr. Krista will take you to any of the five areas in the game. The top three are the arcade games where the player can practice.
- Click on Lihksa (the blue guy) to access Das Liquidator's Challenge.
- Click on Dr. Vious (the bald guy) to access Dr. Vious' Mind Masher.
- Click on Weejee Orff (the green-haired girl) to access the Orff Strategy.
The other two areas on the bottom are:
- Click on the robot to access the Knowledge Central where you can change the player's data, change your partner, print information, or access the teacher's area (see more below).
- Click on Odessa (the black girl) to access Odessa's Fast Facts, which is the test area where the player passes a set of facts and advances to the next set.
Das Liquidator's Challenge
In this game, the boisterous Iyam Neverwrong and alien boy warrior Lihksa Haveet Myway challenge the player to a frantic high energy game of fast thinking. Lihksa controls robot animals, each one with a possible answer on its back. Your goal is to smash the animal with the correct answer to the equation at the top of the screen. The animals are only on the screen for a few seconds before they skitter off, so be quick. Iyam winds up little mechanical mice that chase you like heat-seeking missiles. If you move quickly they won't catch you, but stand in one place too long... BLAM!
Quarky or Quaysoo smash the robot animals with a hammer - you control the character using your mouse. If you hit the wrong animal or run out of time, a hammer is taken away. You have four extra hammers, displayed at the top right of the screen. Bash the right animal and it blows into little bits. The vacuum sucks the extra parts off the play field and into the vacuum cylinder. Bash enough of the right animals and you can overload the vacuum, blowing it up and winning the game.
Dr. D. Vious' Mind Masher
In his dark mysterious castle Dr. D. Vious has created a machine to mess with your mind. The D. Vious Mind Masher drops a shape-changing object which you can control. Your objective is to move the object over the top of the number you believe is the correct answer to the equation at the top of the machine. If the answer is correct, the number will catch the falling shape and your partner will punch it into a big balloon. If the answer is incorrect it will fall to the bottom of the machine. Collect enough correct answers in the balloon and explode it, along with Dr. D. Vious, to win the game. But there's more. Choose to play again and Dr. D. will rebuild his machine bigger and faster than before. Can you beat it more than once?
Orff Strategy
Orff Strategy is a classic strategy board game. The object is to occupy more squares on the board than your opponent. Before the game starts, you must select the difficulty: piece of cake (easy), middle of the road (medium), or tough cookie (hard).
Start the game by clicking on a game piece to move. Once you have chosen a piece, you need to stay with that color until the next game. Then select a square you want to move to. Any square that you can move to will change to a dark gray color and an equation will appear in the top left of the screen. Use the 10-key pad to produce the correct answer and your piece will move. Enter a wrong answer and you lose your turn. Take all the time you want - there's no limit.
The player begins the game with two flame pieces in opposing corners. The Orff's have two planet pieces in the other two opposing corners. To begin a move the player selects a piece by clicking on it with the cursor. The selected piece will animate. You can choose a different piece to move by simply clicking on it. Moving a piece adjacent to any opponent's piece will capture that piece. A captured piece will turn into the player's piece.
You can only move one or two squares in any direction. If you move only one square from the original location, the piece clones and you now occupy an extra square. If a piece is moved two squares, it jumps to that square, leaving a blank square where it jumped from. It is recommended to clone unless a jump yields you one or more of the opponent's pieces.
The score is the total number of pieces owned by each player. The game ends when one player no longer has any pieces or when the board squares are completely full.
Odessa's Fast Facts
The object of Odessa's Fast Facts is to produce the answer to equations as quickly as possible. This is the area where players prove their mastery of a set of facts, earn certificates, and advance to the next set.
When the player enters this area, Odessa will greet you and get you all set up to prove your mastery of the facts you've been practicing. She will tell you how big the set is and how much time you have to complete it. Then a "READY, SET, GO" on the screen will signal when to start.
The large TV monitor next to Odessa displays the facts. They will remain on the screen until you have produced an answer using the keyboard or the mouse and the on-screen 10-key pad. As soon as you press enter, the game lets you know if the answer is correct or incorrect, displays the right answer, then clears the screen and gives you the next equation.
In order to pass a fact set, you must finish the entire set within the time allowed and correctly produce answers to 80% or more of the facts displayed. If you pass a fact set without a score of 100%, Dr. Krista will remember which facts you missed and add them to your study set.
As soon as you have passed a fact set, you have earned a certificate or award. Dr. Krista will ask you if you would like to print it. Choose yes to print the certificate, choose no to go on. The certificate is still available for printing at any time from the Knowledge Central information area.
After you have passed a set of facts, Dr. Krista will display the next type of equation and ask you if you would like to challenge the new set. If you say yes, you return to Odessa's to test your speed and memory with the new set of facts. In this way you can quickly advance through facts you know well and find the level where your flash memory of facts is challenged.
KNOWLEDGE CENTRAL
Knowledge Central knows everything about anything. Here a player, parent or teacher can change information, look up results, print out reports and awards, or even change the fact sets themselves.
To change player information, click on the reader board in Knowledge Central. this reader board displays the current player's information. The player information menu appears on screen and you can click on the information you want to change.
To change your partner, click on the far left TV monitor. This displays Quarky and Quaysoo waiting to be chosen by the player. Click on the partner you want then press enter or click on the "That's the one" button on the menu.
To return to Dr. Krista's Area, click on the third left TV Monitor.
Click on the second left TV monitor (with the robot) to access the Print Information Area. In this area you can print out information about any awards or reports that pertain to a player.
The player can win awards for the completion of any of the fact sets. Click on the award button to list any awards the current player has earned. To print, highlight the award you wish to print and press enter or click on the Print icon. The "Chng" button allows to select another player's awards.
A report is available for each set that has been challenged. In addition an overall report for the current player keeps track of the dates, times and scores of each set passed. the report for a set contains the name, school, and grade level of the current player. It tells you how many times the player has challenged a set. If the set has been passed, the report tells most recent score, and the facts that were missed. The "Chng" button allows to select another player's reports.
For each set of facts in Mega Math, a written test with 100 facts is available. This test can be printed for traditional study with pencil and paper. Highlight the name of the set you want to print, then press enter or click on the Print icon.
Click on the far right TV monitor (with the calculator) to access the Teacher's Area. the Teacher's Area allows the fact sets of Mega Math to be altered. Users can choose a different current set for the game, build their own set, or change the order the sets are presented to players.
Click the button with the calculations to choose a set. Choosing a set will force the program to skip directly to the set you choose and use it for all practice and test areas. Highlight the set you want to become the current set and press enter or click on the Done button.
Click the button with the calculator to build a set. You can build your own set with any numbers from zero to fifteen.
click on the "Change Order" button to change the order of sets. this area allows a teacher or parent to change the order that Dr. Krista advances players through our set of facts. Although there are two windows, there is actually only one list with the order that Dr. Krista uses. Use the top window to select the fact set that you want to move. Use the up or down arrow keys to bring the set you want to move into view, then highlight it by clicking on it with the mouse. Use the bottom window to select where you the highlighted set to be inserted. When you're ready, click on the Move button and the computer will make your change. If you want to return to the original order, click on the Default button.
Your first time in Mega Math, Dr. Krista will ask you to sign in and will display the sign-in area. Use the keyboard to enter your name, then press the enter key. the program will use the capitalization and spelling you enter on all your reports and certificates, so enter the information the way you would like to see it on your personal printouts. If you make a mistake or want to change the information, you can do it at the Knowledge Central.
Most pop-up screens in the game have a red remote control in the upper left corner. Click on it to access the control panel.
After selecting a player, you arrive at the Knowledge Central and Dr. Krista pops up to ask which area you want to go to. From this menu Dr. Krista will take you to any of the five areas in the game. The top three are the arcade games where the player can practice.
In this game, the boisterous Iyam Neverwrong and alien boy warrior Lihksa Haveet Myway challenge the player to a frantic high energy game of fast thinking. Lihksa controls robot animals, each one with a possible answer on its back. Your goal is to smash the animal with the correct answer to the equation at the top of the screen. The animals are only on the screen for a few seconds before they skitter off, so be quick. Iyam winds up little mechanical mice that chase you like heat-seeking missiles. If you move quickly they won't catch you, but stand in one place too long... BLAM!
In his dark mysterious castle Dr. D. Vious has created a machine to mess with your mind. The D. Vious Mind Masher drops a shape-changing object which you can control. Your objective is to move the object over the top of the number you believe is the correct answer to the equation at the top of the machine. If the answer is correct, the number will catch the falling shape and your partner will punch it into a big balloon. If the answer is incorrect it will fall to the bottom of the machine. Collect enough correct answers in the balloon and explode it, along with Dr. D. Vious, to win the game. But there's more. Choose to play again and Dr. D. will rebuild his machine bigger and faster than before. Can you beat it more than once?
Orff Strategy is a classic strategy board game. The object is to occupy more squares on the board than your opponent. Before the game starts, you must select the difficulty: piece of cake (easy), middle of the road (medium), or tough cookie (hard).
The object of Odessa's Fast Facts is to produce the answer to equations as quickly as possible. This is the area where players prove their mastery of a set of facts, earn certificates, and advance to the next set.
Knowledge Central knows everything about anything. Here a player, parent or teacher can change information, look up results, print out reports and awards, or even change the fact sets themselves.
Click on the second left TV monitor (with the robot) to access the Print Information Area. In this area you can print out information about any awards or reports that pertain to a player.
Click on the far right TV monitor (with the calculator) to access the Teacher's Area. the Teacher's Area allows the fact sets of Mega Math to be altered. Users can choose a different current set for the game, build their own set, or change the order the sets are presented to players.
