Star Wars Math amazingly merges NST math standards into a structure where it looks as if you are playing a game to build a spaceship. The math "games" use strategy, computation, adding, subtracting, multiplication, and equivalency. The difficulty adjusts to the level of the answers received. The world that you find yourself on has a hangar to build the rocket ship necessary to navigate the asteroid belt and rid the planet of space junk. How's that for fun and ecology tied together? No need to kill bad guys.

Players use earned math points to buy the parts needed for their ship. Choices of spaceship parts have to be made, but get help if necessary so you get all the required parts and then add little extras that will come in handy when you go back to space.

Lucas Arts Math makes Learning Look Like a Game.

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Meet favorite StarWars characters everywhere and ask them how to play the math "games." This is the best help system we have seen. The characters will play the games for you and discuss strategy or explain the skill. Look at Figure 1 where there is a "game" that is one you might expect on Bob Barker's TV Show "The Price is Right." You have to beat the opponent by creating a number that is in accordance to an instruction you get. For example, you may be asked to get as close as possible to a target number. There are three slots for numbers. The number wheel spins and a number comes up, but you are only allowed to put it into a specified slot. Do you take the number, or pass? Do you think it will be as good as you can expect from a random number?

Lucas Arts may actually be spending more money on this software than they can hope to earn. Perhaps George Lucas wants to make a contribution to G-rated learning experiences. We don't know, but these products took a lot of work, imagination and a very special dedication to the 21st century child.