Mind Power Math: Middle School Algebra, Part 1

Mind Power Math: Middle School Algebra, Part 1 Mind Power Math: Middle School contains four CDs: Mind Power Math: Basic Mathematics includes arithmetic topics traditionally taught at the middle school level: fractions, decimals, integers, and percents. Mind Power Math: Pre-Algebra expands the curriculum of the previous course and includes the study of ratio and proportion, elementary algebra, basic geometry, and introductions to both statistics and probability. Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1 explores the language of algebra, linear functions and equations, systems of linear equations, and linear inequalities in one and two variables. Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 2 investigates real numbers, powers and polynomials, quadratic functions and equations, algebraic expressions and functions, and graphical displays of data. Minimum System and Hardware Requirements Windows 95, 98, or Me 166 MHz Pentium processor or faster 64 MB RAM 8X CD-ROM drive 3 MB free hard disk space; 10 MB required if installing Adobe Acrobat Reader. 800 x 600 or higher, High Color Windows-compatible sound card Windows-compatible mouse Macromedia Flash MX Java 2 Runtime Internet Explorer 5.0 (recommended), Netscape 4.7x browser (supported); Note: Netscape 6.0 and higher not supported

Windows 2000 Professional or XP* * If you are running Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you must have administrative privileges to install this program correctly. Pentium II processor or faster 128 MB RAM 8X CD-ROM drive 3 MB free hard disk space; 10 MB required if installing Adobe Acrobat Reader 800 x 600 or higher, High Color Windows-compatible sound card Windows-compatible mouse Macromedia Flash MX Java 2 Runtime Internet Explorer 5.0 (recommended), Netscape 4.7x browser (supported); Note: Netscape 6.0 and higher not supported Macintosh G3 processor or faster System 8.6 9.2.2, OS 10.1.3 64 MB RAM (with Virtual Memory on) 8X CD-ROM drive 3 MB free hard disk space Thousands of Colors display Macromedia Flash MX Mac OS Runtime for Java (MRJ) version 2.2.5 Internet Explorer 5.0 (recommended), Netscape 4.7x browser (supported); Note: Netscape 6.0 and higher not supported Installation Instructions Windows Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1 runs from your hard drive, but you must have the CD in the drive. To complete the installation, 3 MB is required on your hard drive to store some program files. Close all other programs and applications before installing. The setup program will also allow you to register this product electronically via modem, fax, or regular mail. These instructions assume that the AutoPlay feature of Windows 95 is turned on. 1. Insert the Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1 CD into the CD-ROM drive. 2. When the Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1 window appears, click Install. 3. Follow the onscreen instructions until installation is complete. The setup program will place Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1 file icons in the Start The Learning Company menu. 4. To start the program, make sure you have the CD in the drive and choose Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1 icon from the Start The Learning Company menu.

Macintosh Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1 runs from your hard drive, but you must have the CD in the drive. To complete the installation, 3 MB of space is required on your hard drive to store the program files. Close all other programs and applications before installing. The installer will also allow you to register this product electronically via modem, fax, or regular mail. To set up and start the program: 1. Insert the Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1 CD into the CD-ROM drive. Double-click the launcher or main application icon. 2. Click the Continue button after you read the license information. If you click the Install button on the next screen, the program and all the required system files will be copied to your hard drive. Click the Custom button to install just the system files (Sound Manager 3.1). The selected install option is described below the selection box and the hard drive requirements also appear on this screen. 3. Make your selection and follow the onscreen prompts until the installation is complete. 4. To start the program, double-click the program icon on your hard drive. If you do not see the program icon, simply enlarge the window. Or, you can press the Option key, click the Special menu, and select Clean Up by Name to reposition the icons within the window. To start the program at any time after the initial installation: The installer will create a folder called Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1 inside The Learning Company folder on your hard drive. 1. Insert the Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1 CD in the CD-ROM drive. 2. Open the Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1 folder on your hard drive and double-click the program icon. If you do not see the program icon, follow the instructions detailed in Step 4, above.

NAVIGATING MIND POWER MATH: MIDDLE SCHOOL Main Menu The Main Menu is the starting point for entering the program's modules, units and sessions. Click a module name to see its list of units. Click the unit of your choice to see a list of its sessions. Click a session to see a list of lessons and workouts. Click a module to see its units. Click a unit to see its sessions. Click this icon to exit Mind Power Math. Click a session to see its lessons and workouts. Exiting the Program To exit Mind Power Math: Algebra, Part 1, click the icon in the lower left corner of the screen. Start a Session To start a session: 1. From the Main Menu, click a module tab to select it. 2. The units in that module appear at the left side of the screen. 3. Click a unit to select it. 4. The unit s session titles appear at the right. 5. Click a session to select it. 6. The session s lesson and workout questions appear as buttons to the right of the session s title. 7. Click the lesson button or a workout button. Click a module to select it. Click a unit to select it. Click a session to select it. Click a lesson button to select it. Click a workout button to select it.

Do a Lesson To start a lesson: 1. From the Main Menu, click the module, unit, and session you wish to start. 2. Click the Lesson button on the right side of the menu. 3. The aims screen for the lesson opens. 4. Click the Continue button to open the lesson. Unit Title Open the Navigation Panel. Open the Tools Menu. Pause the lesson. Return to Main Menu. Continue to next section. Return to beginning of lesson. Go back one step. Once you are in the lesson, instruction begins automatically. (You can pause the lesson at any point by pressing the space bar on your keyboard. Press it again to resume the lesson). Tip: If you reach a point in the lesson where nothing is happening, you may need to: Click the OK button to submit your answer. Click the Continue button to move on to the next section. At the end of the lesson you can: Click Continue to move on to the workout. Click Menu to return to the Main Menu. Click Cancel to remain in this lesson.

Do a Workout The workout for a session contains three questions. You can get to a session s workout in one of three ways: At the completion of a lesson, click Continue. From any point in a lesson, click the Navigation button, then click the button for the workout question you want to do. From the Main Menu, click a Workout button. Unit Title Workout sequence Open the Navigation Panel. Open the Tools Menu. Pause the lesson. Return to Main Menu. Continue to next section. Return to beginning of Workout. Go back one step. Once you have opened the workout, follow the narrator s instructions to do the workout. Tip: If you reach a point in the workout where nothing is happening, you may need to: Click the OK button to submit your answer. Click the Continue button to move on to the next section. Once you have finished all the workout problems, you can: Click Continue or Menu to move on the Main Menu. Click Cancel to remain in this lesson.

Navigation Panel From any lesson or workout, click the Navigation button to use the navigation panel. When opened, the navigation panel looks like this: Student s current position in the lesson Click a green or blue bar to go to a workout. Advance step-bystep through the lesson screens. Click along each numbered orange bar to move the pointer to different screens in the lesson. Click the S bar to go to the Summary screen. Close the Navigation Panel and go to the lesson location indicated by the pointer. Close the Navigation Panel and resume the Tools From any lesson or workout, click the Tools button to open the Tools menu. Close the Tools menu. Open a glossary of terms used in Mind Power Math. Open the Calculator. Open the user s guide.

TROUBLESHOOTING Try this first! If you are experiencing problems with the program, try cleaning the CD. Gently remove any fingerprints and dust using a clean, soft, lint-free cloth dampened with water or a CDcleaning solution. Avoid using materials such as facial tissue, which may scratch the CD. For further information, please read the following section, which offers solutions to the most frequently encountered problems. Troubleshooting: Windows 1. The program icon does not appear on the desktop or in the Start menu. Make sure the product has been properly installed. Reinstall the program if necessary. 2. You see a message telling you that there is not enough available space on the hard disk. Mind Power Math requires 3 MB of hard disk space for the program s data and executable files. Create some free hard disk space by removing some files after backing them up or transferring them to a floppy disk. 3. You see a message telling you that there is not enough memory to run the program. Mind Power Math needs at least 16 MB of installed memory (RAM) to run. Your computer s memory may be filled with other programs that are running in the background. Close any other applications that are running, and restart the program. 4. The mouse doesn t seem to work. There are times in the program when the animation or sound cannot be interrupted. You will see the hourglass cursor on the screen, and any key presses or mouse clicks will be ignored. Check that the mouse is properly connected to the computer. Wait until the animation or sound stops and the cursor returns. Then try again. 5. Program speed is very slow. Mind Power Math needs at least a Pentium 166 MHz computer with a 2X CD-ROM drive for basic performance. Close any other applications that are running. Remove any non-essential applications from your Startup folder. Make sure that you have the latest Windows video drivers. Change your display adapter settings to 640 x 480, 16-bit color display mode. 6. You do not hear music, sound, or speech. Check that the speakers are properly connected to your computer. Make sure that they are getting power and are turned on, and that the volume is turned up. Make sure that your sound card is Windows compatible and is properly installed for Windows. Be sure that the sound card is specifically designed to work with the version of Windows that you are using. Also check that the volume is properly set. See the manufacturer s documentation for information relating to your sound card. Make sure the mixer level setting is correct. Click the Start button. Choose Programs from the Start menu.

Next choose Accessories. Then choose Multimedia (Windows 95) or Entertainment (Windows 98, Me, XP), and choose Volume Control. Make sure that the sliders on the mixer control panel are all the way up and that no mute buttons are selected. 7. Strange graphics appear; the game action stops unexpectedly. Try changing your display adapter settings to 800 x 600, 16-bit color display mode. (See your Windows documentation for more information.) Make sure you have the latest Windows video drivers installed. (Contact your video card manufacturer for more information.) Remove any non-essential applications from your Startup folder. 8. Colors don t look right. Adjust your monitor s color and brightness. Make sure your color display is set to 16-bit. Turn off your screensaver. Close any other applications that are running. Make sure you have the latest graphics drivers installed. (Contact your video card manufacturer for more information.) 9. The program window seems small. The program window may not fill the entire screen. For maximum window size, make sure the display mode is set to 800 x 600. (See your Windows documentation.) 10. Nothing prints. Make sure the printer is plugged in and switched on. Check the indicator light on the printer to be sure the printer is online or selected. Make sure the printer cables are connected tightly. Make sure you have selected at least one print item from the Printing area. Where applicable, make sure you have selected either Colored In or Outlined. 11. When you print, pictures or text look faint, blurred, or streaky. Check your print quality settings. (See your printer documentation.) Replace your printer s ink or toner cartridge. 12. The printer displays an out of memory message. Make sure your printer has at least 1 MB of available memory. 13. You are not able to connect to our online Web sites. This feature requires an Internet browser. Make sure that you have a browser properly installed. Make sure that the files with an.htm extension (for example, bookmark.htm ) are associated with the browser of your choice. To check this, double-click any.htm file.

Troubleshooting: Macintosh 1. You do not see the program icon. Make sure the program CD is inserted in the CD tray, printed side up. Make sure that the CD-ROM drivers are correctly installed. 2. You see a message that there is not enough space on the hard disk. Mind Power Math requires 3MB of hard disk space for program data files. (Additional hard disk space will be required to save player information for more than five players.) Create some free hard disk space by removing some files after backing them up or transferring them to a floppy disk. Adjust the Virtual Memory setting to take up less hard disk space. (See your Macintosh documentation for more information.) 3. You see a message telling you that there is not enough memory to run the program. Mind Power Math requires at least 64 MB of installed memory (RAM) to run. Try to increase available memory and then start the program again. (Depending on which Internet browser you use, you may not be able to run both your browser and the program with only 64 MB of RAM.) Quit any programs that you may be running. Turn off or remove from the System Folder any non-apple control panels. Reduce the size of the disk cache in the Memory control panel. (See your Macintosh documentation for more information.) Turn off AppleTalk. 4. The mouse doesn t seem to work. There are times in the program when the animation or sound cannot be interrupted. You will see the watch cursor on the screen, and any key presses or mouse clicks will be ignored. Check that the mouse is properly connected to the computer. Wait until the animation or sound stops and your normal cursor returns. Then try pressing the keys or clicking the mouse again. 5. The music and voice in the game are too loud or too soft. Choose Sound from Control Panels. Adjust your system s speaker volume as needed. 6. You do not hear music, sound, or speech. Make sure that the Volumes setting in the Sound control panel in Control Panels is not set to zero. If you have external speakers, make sure they are turned on and getting power and that they are properly connected to your computer. Also check the speaker volume. Turn off or remove from the System Folder any non-apple control panels and extensions. (Leave the CD-ROM drivers.) Restart your computer. 7. You hear popping noises in the program sounds and voices. Check the speaker connection to the computer. Close all other applications.

8. The program window seems small. Some monitors are not able to display the program at the optimum display setting, so the program window may not fill the entire screen. For maximum window size, make sure the display mode is set to 800 x 600 in the Monitors control panel. 9. Program speed is very slow, or sounds and animations do not play smoothly. Mind Power Math needs at least a G3 Macintosh computer with a 2X CD-ROM drive for basic performance. Make sure Virtual Memory is turned off in the Memory control panel. If you must have Virtual Memory turned on, reduce the amount of virtual memory allocated in the Memory control panel. 10. Nothing prints. Make sure the printer is plugged in and switched on. Check the indicator light on the printer to be sure the printer is online or selected. Make sure the printer cables are connected tightly. Make sure you have selected at least one print item from the Printing area. Where applicable, make sure you have selected either Colored In or Outlined. 11. When you print, pictures or text look faint, blurred, or streaky. Check your print quality settings. (See your printer documentation.) Replace your printer s ink or toner cartridge. 12. The printer displays an out of memory message. Make sure your printer has at least 1 MB of available memory. 13. You are not able to connect to our online Web sites. This feature requires an Internet browser. Make sure that you have a browser properly installed. (See your browser and Macintosh documentation for more information.)

CONTACTING THE LEARNING COMPANY Technical Support If you have questions about your Mind Power Math program, please refer to the Troubleshooting section. If you do not find an answer to your question, please visit The Learning Company Web site at http://www.riverdeep.net/learningcompany/support and click Product Support. Select the product name from the alphabetical list and check to see if the problem you are experiencing is listed among the FAQs. If you need to speak to a technical support representative, click Contact Us and scroll down to the Technical Support area for the appropriate phone number. You may be asked to provide the following information: Your contact information (name and email address, plus phone or mailing address if you wish) Description of the problem you re having Product name and version number (The version number is often printed on the CD label.) Brand of computer Operating system (for example, Windows 98 or Mac OS 8.6) Processor type and speed RAM memory (in MB or megabytes) Video card manufacturer Sound card manufacturer Printer type Hard disk space remaining Background programs (antivirus programs or screensavers) Customer Support For assistance with product orders, purchases, or refunds, please contact our Customer Support department by visiting The Learning Company Web site at: http://www.riverdeep.net/learningcompany/support SATISFACTION GUARANTEED If you are not completely satisfied with this product, The Learning Company will gladly refund your purchase price or provide a replacement product. Return the complete package to us at The Learning Company, Dock Door #9, 120 Hidden Lake Circle, Duncan, SC 29334, within 30 days of purchase. Include a copy of the sales receipt, packing slip, or invoice showing the store name and location. Please enclose an explanation for the return and specify the replacement title, if applicable. Allow 4-6 weeks for refund. Limit 1 per household. Dealers, wholesalers, and their immediate families are not eligible. 2001, 2002 Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited, and its licensors. All rights reserved. Uses Smacker Video Technology. Copyright 1994-1998 by RAD Game Tools, Inc. All rights reserved. Contains Macromedia Shockwave Player and Macromedia Flash Player software by Macromedia, Inc., Copyright 1995-2000 Macromedia, Inc. All rights reserved. The Learning Company and Riverdeep are registered trademarks, and Mind Power is a trademark of Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited. Macromedia and Shockwave are registered trademarks, and Flash is a trademark of Macromedia, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. USE OF THIS PRODUCT IS SUBJECT TO CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF WARRANTY UNDER THE LICENSE AGREEMENT CONTAINED HEREIN.