Middle School Advantage Deluxe Edition
© 1998 Encore Software
Designed for students in grades 6-9, this bundle covers a wide range of content on six CDs which vary in quality. The Health and Math CDs are the best of the bunch. On the Health CD, which was originally called How the Body Works (Mindscape), you get a nice overview of the body's 12 systems. You'll also learn about health from a practical, holistic viewpoint. The content is very impressive. It covers exercise, accupressure, herbal medicines, weight control, and more. The Math CD, originally Middle School Math by Aces Research, offers a well-designed set of math tutorials covering algebra and geometry. Each starts with a lecture, then provides an example, gives a quiz, and assigns a grade . Good grades are rewarded with a jigsaw puzzle. Explanations of concepts are clear, and the quizzes comprehensively test children's knowledge. The Natural Science and History CDs were confusing to use and rather limited in their offerings. With the exception of the video footage, the graphics are generally poor. The best part of the Language Arts CD is the program, Word Smart (by Princeton Review), in which kids look for new words in movie scripts. There are eight levels of difficulty covering 1600 words, a Say It feature, a glossary, three quiz types, and a movie clip from Mel Brooks' movie, The Producers. And finally, while the depth of Webster's Encyclopedia (the 6th CD) is not as extensive as Encarta or World Book, it does provide the basic facts about most topics. Overall, this bundle offers some valuable middle school content, but students will sometimes have to sift through mediocre activities to get to the good stuff.
Win 95 (CD-ROM)
Teaches: health, algebra, math, science, history, reference, vocabulary