States & Capitals v 1.0

This is an educational program designed by Traci Burton, a fifth-
grade teacher at Shasta Meadows School in Redding, California.  
The programming was done by Bob Wierman in GFA BASIC.  All the 
maps were generated using MAPS AND LEGENDS¿ - The Cartographer.  
These were modified and customized using D.E.G.A.S. Elite.  
Everything else was done using GFA BASIC.  If you received this in 
the form intended, you will have a file labelled STATES.PRG, which 
is the compiled version of STATES.BAS, which is included for those 
with an interest in the programming.

The reason for this program is that Traci felt that her students 
needed to be able to use a program of this type to learn the 
states and capitals. The versions available required that the 
student spell the state or capital correctly; if not, it was 
incorrect.  For this reason, this program allows either a "match" 
or "spell" option.  Also, Traci's school teaches the United States 
by region, so you may select any of the major regions of the 
United States, or you may select the entire United States.  
Students generally find it easier to learn a region at a time.  
This also helps them to associate each state with an area of the 
country.  The regions and the color coding are based on Milliken 
Publishing Co.'s Learning About the U.S.A. and the book is used in 
conjunction with the program in the classroom.

The program is essentially self-explanatory.  The title screen 
also serves as the selection screen.  One region or the USA map 
must be selected, either "States" or "Capitals" must be selected, 
and either "Match" or "Spell" must be selected.  If you select the 
USA map, you will not be allowed to select "Match".  The main 
reason for this is that there simply isn't room on the screen to 
list all 50 states; additionally, this is intended as a "final" 
for the students.  The only other item that is not obvious is that 
during the matching or spelling portion of the program, pressing 
BOTH mouse keys will allow you to return to the title/selection
screen (an alert box will ask for confirmation).

The alert box that appears at the end of each map is written with  
the student in mind (fifth grade, remember).  It translates the 
number correct into a grade that is probably fairly standard.  If 
the student misses the same state or capital more than once, it is 
counted only one time for the sake of this "grade", while the 
"number incorrect" displayed on the screen counts each occurrence.

Any comments, suggestions, and/or constructive criticisms would be
appreciated.  Please address any correspondence to:

                    Bob Wierman
                    3834 Patterson Court
                    Redding, CA  96003

                          or

                    Compuserve 76064,1270