Work it out with the Zoombinis

Life

1 April 2005

A sequel to the excellent Logical Journey of the Zoombinis (latterly entitled Zoombinis Maths Journey) has been a long time coming. Zoombinis Mountain Rescue continues the series’ focus on logical thinking skills with a similar format — the idea is to create groups of endearing little creatures called Zoombinis and lead them through a series of thought provoking challenges. 

Caught in a severe storm, a small band of Zoombinis seeks shelter in a mountain cave only to find themselves trapped in a hazardous tunnel where mysterious creatures lurk. The user is then challenged to organise a band of Zoombini rescue mission.

With nine perplexing puzzles and three levels of difficulty, each perilous challenge will test children’s mathematical thinking skills — which include organising information, reasoning with evidence, and testing systematically. 

As in the previous program, most of the problems involve the identification of patterns and rules that will allow the maximum number of Zoombinis to get safely across a particular obstacle. All of the deductions the children must make depend on the characteristics of the group. Each of the Zoombinis has a set of individual characteristics such as hairstyle, eyes, nose and footwear. These can be selected at the start of the adventure by the children or automatically generated by the program. The successful completion of all the problems involves deduction of the particular rules in force for each problem.

The original program was a best seller for its creator, Broderbund, which is now subsumed into The Learning Company, and the package received numerous awards for its imaginative application of mathematical concept formation in the guise of a childrens’ game. Much of this success can be attributed to the ingenuity of the problems posed and also to the imaginative characterisations and graphical excellence. Mountain Rescue is no different. In fact, if anything, the Zoombinis look better, the landscapes are more beautifully rendered and the puzzles are every bit as challenging and absorbing as before.

The publishers refer to the activities of the program as ‘mathematics without numbers’ and it is important to remember that children will not get to practice their tables, decimals or computation skills by taking part. Instead, they will have to use their problem-solving skills and their forethought and analysis to assess each situation. Even the easiest of the three levels is designed to be challenging, so be prepared to help out if necessary along this creative and strenuous path. It is preferable, we suggest, that because of the nature of this adventure children will benefit more from working in groups than individually. This will provide opportunities to discuss strategies, share ideas and collaborate as team members — in addition to increasing the chance of success.

Specs

Zoombinis Mountain Rescue

  • Make no mistake about it, this is a challenging program and some children may become very frustrated if their progress is slow. They should initially use practice mode to help them get into the correct frame of mind before attempting to complete the adventure. Zoombinis Mountain Rescue represents children’s computer software at its very best, and embodies much of the modern thinking behind how children learn best. As such, the sophistication of its program will help develop the sophistication of children’s ability to think and reason. The program excellently achieves its laudable objectives.
  • Price £19.99
  • Diskovery +353 (0)1-873 2822 
  • Rating 80%

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