The Observatory is one of the activities on the Third Floor in JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain. It consists of three parts, one which is merely an arcade game, one which teaches grammar, especially sentence structure, and one which teaches astronomy.
Description[]
In the Observatory, Polly announces that she has sent one of her father's spaceships, containing a Mission Clue or Invention Points, into deep space. She then beams a radio wave containing a clue as to the spaceship's whereabouts into a black hole. The station is in the room. The user must then blast the clue, in the form of four to six "radio packets", out of the black hole before it is "sucked into another dimension". Afterwards, the user must decode the clue with the Professor's Alien Transmission Decoding Device (which Botley claims Professor Spark hasn't used in a while since there are no alien signals to find) in a grammar activity, in which the words in sentences are jumbled up and must be re-arranged into a correct sentence. Once the hint is unscrambled, the user must use the Professor's star chart to determine which constellation Polly has sent the missing spaceship to. When the spacecraft arrives at the Observatory, the robot pilot exits the ship and presents the Mission Clue or Invention Points.
Constellations[]
The star chart has constellations and shows illustrations in the night sky.
Southern Hemisphere[]
- Aquarius
- Capricorn
- Carina
- Centaurus
- Cetus
- Crux
- Eridanus
- Grus
- Hydrus
- Libra
- Orion
- Puppis
- Pyxis
- Sagittarius
- Scorpio
- Tucana
- Vela
Northern Hemisphere[]
- Andromeda
- Aries
- Auriga
- Bootes
- Cancer
- Cassiopeia
- Corona Borealis
- Cygnus
- Delphinus
- Draco
- Gemini
- Hercules
- Leo
- Lyra
- Pegasus
- Perseus
- Pisces
- Taurus
- Ursa Major
- Ursa Minor
- Virgo
Hint Examples[]
- Have you ever seen a fish goat? I am a goat with the tail of a fish. I scamper and I swim across the sky. Please don't laugh at my funny shape.
- The god Hermes invented me. Hermes found an empty turtle shell. He also had some string with him. Hermes invented a new musical instrument.
Difficulty level differences[]
The Telescope[]
- Level one: Four space packets need to be collected, asteroids appear.
- Level two: Six space packets need to be collected, asteroids appear.
- Level three: Six space packets need to be collected, asteroids and comets appear.
The Signal Decoder[]
- Level one: Four sentences
- Level two: Six sentences
- Level three: Six sentences with a slash between the words
Botley's Dialogue[]
Introduction[]
- "I sense that Polly has launched another one of the mission clues into space."
- "Uh-oh, I'm picking up vibrations that tell me that Polly's launched another one of the mission clues into space."
- "Here we go again! Polly's launched another one of the mission clues into space! Man your battle stations!"
- "Polly didn't hide a mission clue here, but the professor's spaceship is missing! Maybe she launched it with some spare invention points."
- "There's no mission clue here, but notice the missing spaceship? I wouldn't be surprised if Polly launched it with some spare invention points."
- "Well, since there's no mission clue to be found here, we could always try to track down the missing spaceship, to see if maybe Polly launched some invention points."
- "I gotta say this is one of my favorite rooms in this place."
- "So, Polly, where'd you send it?"
- "Come on, Polly, give us an idea where to look!"
- "Give us a fighting chance, Polly! Where did you send it?"
- "I think you know what to do! Click on the telescope and we'll get started!"
- "I have no idea what's in store for us this time, but we have no choice! Click on the telescope."
- "When will she stop? Why, if I was her father? Hmm! Just click on the telescope and I'll help you save the world."
The Telescope[]
- "Great! You got another radio wave packet!"
- "Another asteroid bites the dust!"
- "Alright! You've got all the radio packets! Now we can decode Polly's hint."
- "That's it! Now it's time to decode Polly's message!
- "Great! We have all the packets! Now we have to decode Polly's message!"
The Signal Decoder[]
- "Great! You decoded the entire hint!"
- "Decoding operation is completed! You broke the code!"
- "Way to go! You nailed the code!"
The Star Chart[]
- "Click on any of the constellations and this machine will tell you a little bit about them."
When Clicking on the Wrong Constellation[]
- "Nothing happened! I don't think that's the right constellation! Try again!"
- "Well, I guess the spaceship's not in that constellation. No problem! Let's try another!"
- "Hey, there are a lot of stars out there! Just because the spaceship isn't in that constellation doesn't mean we won't find it in our next try."
- "(name of constellation) It's in the Southern/Northern hemisphere."
When Clicking on the Right Constellation[]
- "Hear that? You must be right, and here comes a spaceship!"
- "Hey, you're right on target! Here comes a spaceship!"
- "Way to go! You picked the right constellation and now the ship is heading back here!"
Polly's Dialogue[]
- "So you and your friend really like the thrill of venturing to the brink of nothingness!"
- "I hope you and your buddy enjoy the void because that's where you headed!"
- "Get ready for a fun-packed thrill ride to the bottomless pit!"
- "I guess it's time for another space odyssey, Cotley, and here's your clue!"
- "Just for you, a little hint! Let's see if your fast enough to save it!"
- "Here's a hint! Just don't waste time sitting there looking stupid or you'll never be able to retrieve it!"
Digital manual description[]
What's up in the Observatory?[]
When Polly hid the Mission Clues, she didn't run out of space, she ran into outer space! That's right. Polly blasted some Mission Clues and Invention Points into the heart of several constellations. There is a hint, but Polly's transmitted it as a radio wave and sent it heading straight into a black hole. You've got your work cut out for you, here. You'll find the observatory on the third floor of the Mountain Mansion.
Black Hole Blaster[]
Now that you're in the Observatory, you can use one of the Professor's deep space probes to shoot at the radio waves and knock them out of the black hole.
Warning: Asteroids and comets are common in this area of the universe!
- To start, click on the Telescope.
- To spin your probe, use the arrow keys on your keyboard.
- To shoot, hit the space bar on your keyboard or click the Shoot button on the Utility Belt.
- Destroy the asteroids before they hit you. Get hit too many times and your spaceship is history.
- Of course comets are too big to destroy so easily, but if you turn the probe's back to it, you just might deflect it without sustaining too much damage.
- If your probe is destroyed, another will replace it until you run out.
- When you've collected all the radio waves, you're ready to unscramble the clues in the Alien Signal Decoder.
The Alien Signal Decoder[]
Professor Spark loves to search the sky for signs of life in outer space, and just in case he finds it, he's built this Alien Signal Decoder to help him communicate. Luckily, it will also help you decode the scrambled radio waves of Polly's hint that you blasted out of the black hole and put the words into the right order.
- Click on a piece of Polly's hint. Drag it to any other part of the unscrambling window.
- Click again to release the piece.
In Level 3, the hint will include words you don't need.
- Click on the word or set of words you don't want and move it to the Space Disposal Unit located on the right side of the Decoder.
- When you've unscrambled the hint, you're ready to identify the constellation.
Far Out Star Chart[]
Once you've unscrambled Polly's hint using the Alien Signal Decoder, move on to the Professor's star chart to locate the correct constellation.
- Click on the round star chart on the left side of the Observatory.
- To change the star chart display from the northern to the southern hemisphere, click on the Globe.
Move your pointer over the stars to see the lines of different constellations appear.
- Click on any constellation to hear something about it.
- When you think you've identified the constellation where Polly sent her father's space ship, click on it.
- If you're right, the space ship will come zooming back to the Observatory and its robot pilot will present you with the Mission Clue or Invention Points.
Trivia[]
- Botley mentioned that Polly once was caught spying on the neighbors with the telescope thus Professor Spark grounded her.
- On the star chart, it has Hydrus instead of Hydra.
- The Argo is a ship of constellations.
- There are two hemispheres of constellations.
- There are four spaceships needed to shoot the radio packets.
- If you shoot at an asteroid in the Black Hole Blaster, Botley will sometimes say "another asteroid bites the dust", which is spoof on the song Another One Bites the Dust by Queen.
- Although Cygnus is a male, the Observatory narrator gives him a female voice during his hint.
- Draco's name should be pronounced "DRAY-KOH," not "DRAH-KOH."
Gallery[]
Videos[]
JumpStart 3rd Grade - The Observatory