ANNOUNCE: Excite's offers lessons and contest for searching the Web

[Ted Resnick]

Greetings all,

I invite you to check out the Headbone Derby, an interactive learning
experience for grade/middle school students and  classroom teams. The site,
located on the World Wide Web at http://derby.excite.com/ allows students
to follow and assist Headbone characters Iz and Auggie in their 3 month
project to save the world from evil villains and help protect the
environment. The Headbone Derby is a collaborative effort by CD-ROM
publisher Headbone Interactive and the Excite Navigation Network.

The Headbone Derby is designed to show kids how to:

- search the Web for information efficiently
- practice basic computer and internet skills (using the mouse, 
reading and understanding online information)
- solve math, science, and various interdisciplinary problems using 
both the internet and offline resources.    

The Headbone Derby can be played by anyone with access to web 
browser. The site is colorful, but most of the images are small in 
size, so the gameplay is not burdened down with slow-loading graphics. 
(Looks fine on AOL too!) 

 A typical interaction will have the child (or team) read a series of 
comic book style panels, and then be asked to answer a question by 
researching the topic via the Internet.  Hints and solutions for 
finding the answer using Excite's services are provided. For example, 
one situation tells the child, "The code you need is the same as the 
number of minutes required for Pluto to orbit the sun."  Step-by-step 
hints are provided to demonstrate how to use the internet to get the 
answer.

There are three parts to playing the Headbone Derby; the 
highest-scoring teams may win one of several prizes. Winners will be 
announced on March 15.

     The Warm-up: "Rags to Riches Rescue Game" A game in which the 
players help Iz and Auggie raise enough money on tour to help fix the 
ozone layer and save the world. Players must balance their income from 
ticket sales with expenses-renting the venue, the overhead cost for 
each ticket, publicity, and lodging. The game runs from December 15 to 
January 15.

     The Main Act: "Revenge of the Lunar Fringe" Players travel to 
Dimension Q with Iz and Auggie to defeat Cosmo LaRue (the evil 
villain) in his attempt to steal everyone's money and own all the 
music in the world. The story, in seven comic-book-style episodes, 
poses 14 puzzles which the players must solve in order to help Iz and 
Auggie. The solutions to these puzzles require research on the World 
Wide Web (or in books). Hints are provided for each puzzle although 
players lose points for taking hints.Click here to read more about the 
rules.) The main act runs from January 15 to March 1.

     The Grand Finale: "The Winky Betterman Coutdown" The story 
continues with our intrepid duo; players must solve five challenging 
puzzles (no hints provided) in order to save Iz and Auggie. This last 
part of the Headbone Derby runs from March 1 through March 15. 

We hope that the timing of the Headbone Derby will fit in well with 
classroom activities.  Educators, librarians, and technology trainers are
invited to visit the Official Teacher's Guide section at
http://derby.excite.com/teachers/ for more details on how to make the Derby
a part of their Spring '97 classroom curriculum.  We welcome your
participation and feedback!

Yours truly,

Ted Resnick
Excite's Headbone Derby
http://derby.excite.com
Ted Resnick -- Online Marketing Manager -- http://www.excite.com/