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Page 1: THE WONDERFUL LANGUAGE OF NATUREsupport.britannica.com/other/language/win/issues/WLN_006.pdfThe rich learning environment of The Wonderful Language of Nature features the following

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THE WONDERFULLANGUAGE OF NATURE

~ USER GUIDE~

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TABLE OF CONTENTSTHE WONDERFUL LANGUAGE OF NATURE 3

Features of the Program 4

Content 4

USING THE PROGRAM'S FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES 6General Functions and Features 6The Menu Bar 6The Toolbar 12Manipulating the Program's Windows 13

The Main Menu Screen 14

The Knowledge Base Entry Screen 15Text Area 16Image Area 17

Searching 19Media Search 19Keyword Search 20Combined Search 20

My Copy: Making Your Mark on the Program 21Starting Out 21Highlighting Text 22Adding a Memo 22Editing Your Memos 23Adding a Bookmark 24Removing Your Highlighting, Memos, and Bookmarks 24

Using Productivity Tools 25Copying Text from the Knowledge Base 25Copying Pictures from the Knowledge Base 26Printing 26

Going On-Line 27

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THE WONDERFULLANGUAGE OF NATURE

What does a firefly, as it lights up in the dark, have in common with apleasantly scented flower in a field or a colorful fish in a coral reef? Howdoes a male peacock that is spreading its tail in front of a female resemble afrog that is puffing up its throat and croaking in a bog? These plants andanimals are all getting across a message! In The Wonderful Language ofNature, you will discover amazing ways in which plants and animalscommunicate.

When animals send a message, they convey important information aboutthemselves. Such messages play a crucial role in the battle for survival. Forexample, communication helps animals obtain food, court mates, raiseoffspring, and escape from predators. The messages can be visual, vocal,chemical, or physical.

Plants also communicate with nearby organisms, by sending visual andchemical messages. The shape of a flower, for instance, attracts pollinators;and animals that see a plant's colorful fruits are often tempted to eat them. Insuch ways, seeds are dispersed and a new generation of plants develops.

Like other animals, human beings send visual, vocal, chemical, and physicalmessages, which play similar roles. However, we differ from plants andanimals in the one type of communication that is uniquely ours—humanlanguage.

In The Wonderful Language of Nature you will find a knowledge base ofinformation on nearly 100 different species, including plants, fish,amphibians, insects, reptiles, birds, and mammals—with a special focus onhumans. The information is organized into seven major topics, which covervarious areas in which communication plays a major role: Courtship andAttraction, In Search of Food, Parents and Offspring, Social Standing,Territorial Dominance, Defense, and Group Identity. The knowledge basecombines with project-oriented investigations to provide a focused,interactive environment for exploring natural phenomena.

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Features of the ProgramThe rich learning environment of The Wonderful Language of Naturefeatures the following major components:

• A multimedia knowledge base about the diverse kinds of communicationin nature. The 58 entries include written text, narration, photographs,sounds, full-screen video segments, animated sequences, and slide shows.An electronic glossary provides definitions of terms and concepts foundin the knowledge base, and hypermedia links take you to related entries.

• Research and problem-solving activities that focus on the informationpresented in the program. The knowledge base serves as a starting pointfor different kinds of investigation projects, which involve skills such asanalyzing, comparing, generalizing, and drawing conclusions. As youwork on these projects, you can customize the knowledge base entries byhighlighting important sections or interesting pictures, sticking memosonto pictures or highlighted text, and adding bookmarks. You can printout pictures and text for off-line work, as well. In addition, with directaccess to external productivity tools—a word processor, a drawingprogram, presentation software, and a spreadsheet—you can include textand pictures from the knowledge base in original pieces of work that youcreate based on your own research.

• Links to many Internet sites, including the site of The WonderfulLanguage of Nature. There you can find additional information andlinks related to the topics covered in the knowledge base. The programalso enables you to automatically update the provided links and thusaccess the most recent information available on the Internet.

Content The knowledge base of The Wonderful Language of Nature is organizedaround seven topics, each of which covers a different aspect ofcommunication in nature, as follows:

! Courtship and Attraction: How can a male convince a female tochoose him as her mate? By courting her! Males use diverse modes ofcommunication to demonstrate their worth. Some show off their bodies,and others sing songs. Some males give off pleasant scents, while othersgo to the trouble of bringing gifts. Communication also helps someplants attract animals. The plants use the animals’ own communicationchannels to transmit alluring messages. For instance, many plants havejuicy, colorful fruits or colorful flowers that contain nutritious pollen andnectar. As animals feed on the pollen and nectar, they pollinate theflowers. Animals that feed on fruit spread the seeds that lie inside thefruit.

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! In Search of Food: Organisms need to eat, and therefore they mustobtain food. As animals search for and obtain their food, communicationamong them plays a major role in their survival. Some animals transmitmessages about the source and location of food and the catching of prey.Such messages help animal imposters whose camouflage facilitates theirhunting. Many animals and carnivorous plants obtain food through trapsand lures and use the communication channels of their prey to fool it. Forexample, some of these plants and animals display their own bodies astasty morsels of food to lure the victim. After "reading" the signals sentby the predator, the prey falls for the bait and into the trap.

! Parents and Offspring: Effective communication between parents andoffspring improves the chances of the young to reach adulthood andreproduce. By transmitting and receiving signals, parents and offspringcan identify each other with certainty. Offspring communicate abouttheir changing needs, and thus their parents can successfully handle themany tasks they must perform, such as watching over the young, feedingthem, keeping them clean, and teaching them survival skills.

! Social Standing: Social standing is an individual's rank in the socialhierarchy of his or her group. Each member of the group has a place inthe hierarchy—perhaps as the ruler, perhaps as the ruled—and knows hisor her place. Social standing is resolved by means of communication,which also prevents unnecessary fighting between the group's members.

! Territorial Dominance: The area in which an animal lives and findsfood is called its home range. Within the home range is the animal'sterritory, where it makes its home and raises its young. By means ofcommunication, animals show that they own the territory and defend itagainst intruders of their own species. Various forms of communicationare used, including, for example, vocal communication and the secretionof chemical substances.

! Defense: The appearance of certain plants and animals assists them inself-defense. Camouflage and mimicry are examples of ways in whichappearance helps organisms escape detection by predators. Withcamouflage, the plant or animal remains out of sight. Mimicry of thecolor patterns or shapes of poisonous plants or animals also keepspredators at a distance. Mimicry of inedible objects helps plants andanimals avoid danger by confusing potential predators.

! Group Identity: Using the information that they transmit to one another,social animals can identify members of their own group and distinguishbetween their group and other groups. Each species has its own signals,such as a particular appearance, smell, call, or behavior. Licking,grooming, and other kinds of physical contact also send a message, whichmight serve to establish social standing, increase the sense of belongingto the family or group, or diffuse tension that has built up from fightingamong group members.

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USING THE PROGRAM'SFUNCTIONS AND

FEATURESThe learning environment of The Wonderful Language of Nature consists,on the one hand, of information presented in a variety of formats, and on theother, of a functional framework that includes, for example, a hierarchicaltopic "tree," many kinds of tools, and Internet connectivity. In this chapteryou will find out how to access the different types of information and how touse the program's various functions and features.

General Functions and FeaturesAs you work in The Wonderful Language of Nature, a Menu Bar and aToolbar are constantly available to provide functions that will help you inyour exploration of the knowledge base and your preparation of projects.This section describes the functions that are accessible from the Menu Barand the Toolbar, as well as some basic techniques for handling the program'swindows.

The Menu BarThe Menu Bar lies across the top of your screen and consists of eight menusand three icons. The three icons are as follows:

Closes the program after displaying a message that askswhether you really want to quit. You can find this icon atthe extreme left of the Menu Bar.

Minimizes, or collapses, the program screen. You canrestore it to normal size by clicking on the program namein the Taskbar on your Windows screen.

Displays or hides the Toolbar. You can find this icon at theextreme right of the Menu Bar.

The functions of each menu in the Menu Bar are described below.

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Topics

Selecting Topics opens a window with a list of the seven major topics of theknowledge base—Courtship and Attraction, In Search of Food, Parents andOffspring, Social Standing, Territorial Dominance, Defense, and GroupIdentity. Click on a topic to open a menu of subtopics, and select a subtopicto display a list of entries. You can access an entry by clicking on its title.To close the list of entries, click on the subtopic, and to close the list ofsubtopics, just click on the topic.

The topics are also displayed graphically on the Main Menu screen. Formore information, see the section The Main Menu Screen below.

Search

When you open the Search menu, you can choose either the Glossary or theSearch Window.

! Glossary: Displays a list of terms and concepts that are in the knowledgebase. Click on a term in the list to open a window with the definition.When you see a highlighted word in the text of an entry, you can click onthe word to call up its definition (without using the Glossary menu).

! Search Window: Offers two search modes. If you click on the Mediabutton, a list of media types is displayed (Entries, Glossary Words,Pictures, Movies, and Slide Shows). If you select Keywords, a list ofkeywords is displayed. You may click on more than one selection at atime. For more information, see the section Searching below.

Investigation

When you click on Investigation, a window opens up and displays a menu ofthree types of activities:

! Problem Solving: Projects in which a case study presents a problem thatrequires you to conduct research and apply your findings to the issue athand

! Information Gathering: Investigative activities in which data must becollected from different parts of the knowledge base and synthesized sothat conclusions can be drawn

! Short Questions: Topic-related activities that accompany each of theentries

Internet

When you select Internet, a menu of five options is displayed:

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! Wonderful Language of Nature Site: Opens the Web browser that isinstalled on your computer and takes you to the site of The WonderfulLanguage of Nature, where you will find links relevant to theinformation in the knowledge base

! MOST Web Site: Opens the Web browser that is installed on yourcomputer and takes you to the home page of the MOST (Minds-OnScience and Technology) series

! Internet Links: Displays all the Internet links in the program. The linksare shown in a hierarchical list, and you can click on each link in the listto see a brief description and the site’s address.

! New Links: Displays a list of the new Internet links that were added afterthe most recent updating (with the Update Links function)

! Update Links: Copies the updated links from the Center of EducationalTechnology site

View

When you select View, a menu displays the following functions:

! Next Window: Takes you to another open window. It is the next windowin the List of Open Windows (see below).

! List of Open Windows: Displays a list of all the windows that arecurrently open. Click on an item in the list to view that window.

! Minimize All Windows: Collapses the windows that are currentlydisplayed and places an icon for each in the Toolbar. (For moreinformation, see the section The Toolbar below.)

! Close All Windows: Closes all the windows that are currently open,including the minimized windows

! Restore All Windows: Retrieves the minimized windows and restoresthem to their original size

! Arrange Windows: Places all the currently displayed windows in acascading, or overlapping, arrangement, in which the title bar of each isvisible. You can click on the title bar of a window to make it active.

! Show InfoTips: Displays "InfoTips," which give short explanations ofthe buttons and captions of some images. An InfoTip appears brieflywhen you roll your mouse over a button. If you do not want the InfoTipsto be active at this time, click here to remove the check mark.

! Show My Copy: Displays your own highlighting and memos, which youadded while working in the My Copy mode. If you do not want to viewyour Copy at this time, click here to remove the check mark.

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! Play Sound Automatically: Turns on the music and narration whereverapplicable. If you do not want to hear the music and narration as a screenor window comes up, click here to remove the check mark.

! Adjust Volume: Opens the Volume Control settings in Windows. In theleft-hand section (called Volume Control), move the volume slider up ordown to make the sound louder or softer.

! Show Toolbar: Enables you to display or hide the Toolbar

My Copy

This menu enables you to personalize your copy of the knowledge base byhighlighting important points in the text, writing memos, and insertingbookmarks.

! Current Copy: Indicates the name of the Copy that is currently ondisplay.

! Open My Copy: Enables you to open up previous work you did in theMy Copy mode

! Save Current Copy: Saves your work in the location that you indicatedwhen you opened the My Copy file

! Clean Copy: Removes all the highlighting, memos, and bookmarks thatyou created in the My Copy mode

! Highlight: Enables you to highlight text. When Highlight is active, thecursor appears as a marker whenever it is over the text of an entry. Dragthe marker over the text you wish to highlight. To stop highlighting,click on Highlight again.

! Change Highlighting Color: Opens a menu of colors to use forhighlighting. Click on the color of your choice.

! Add Memo: Enables you to add a memo that is attached to the currentlydisplayed picture. When you select Add Memo, the cursor appears as amemo icon whenever it is over a picture. Click on the picture, and theicon will stick to its upper left-hand corner. To write your memo, clickon the memo icon, and a typing box will open up.

! Add General Memo: Opens a typing box where you can write a memo.You can view it later by choosing List of Highlights and Memos in theMy Copy menu.

! Clear Memos and Highlighting in Entry: Removes all the memos andhighlighting that you added to the currently displayed entry. If youbookmarked any of those items, the bookmarks are automaticallyremoved when you select this option.

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! Delete Memo or Highlighting: Enables you to remove specific memos orhighlighting. When this option is selected, the cursor appears as aneraser. Drag it over the memo or highlighting that you wish to delete. Toexit the Delete mode, click on Delete Memo or Highlighting again.

! List of Highlights and Memos: Displays the names of the sections youhighlighted and the memos you wrote. To view the highlighted section ormemo, click on its name in the list.

Tools

The Tools menu provides a variety of editing functions and access to externalproductivity tools that allow you to work with the entries in the knowledgebase.

! Copy: Opens the following submenu:

Text: Places the text of the entire entry in the clipboard (thecomputer's memory) so that you can paste it wherever you wish (in aGeneral Memo, for example, or in a word processor document). If youselect text before opening the Copy menu, this option appears asSelected Text and copies only what you have selected into theclipboard.

Picture: Places the currently displayed picture in the clipboard (thecomputer's memory) so that you can paste it in an external application

From Screen: Changes your cursor into a selection device, which youcan use to select an area and copy it into the clipboard so that it willbe available for use in an external application

! Print: Opens the following submenu:

Text: Prints the currently displayed text

Picture: Prints the currently displayed picture

! Copyright Notice: Displays copyright information regarding the use ofthe text, graphics, video segments, and other material in the program

! Word Processor: Opens the word processor program that is installed inyour computer (if that program produces documents with the .docextension, as does Microsoft WordPad, for example)

! Drawing Tool: Opens a drawing program (such as Microsoft Paint)

! Presentation Program: Opens software for creating presentations (suchas Microsoft PowerPoint), if you have installed such software in yourcomputer

! Spreadsheet: Opens a spreadsheet program (such as Microsoft Excel), ifyou have installed such software in your computer

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Please note that the list of productivity tools in the Tools menu depends onthe software that is installed on your computer.

Navigation

The Navigation menu offers the following options:

! Back: Takes you back to the previous screen

! Forward: After you have used the Back option, takes you forward againto the screen where you selected Back

! Last Graphic Menu: Takes you to the graphic menu that was mostrecently displayed

! Main Menu: Takes you to the program's Main Menu

! History: Displays a list of the entries and windows you have viewedduring this session. To see one of the items on the list, click on it.

! Bookmarks: Displays a list of the bookmarks that you have created. Tosee one of the bookmarked items, click on its title.

! Credits: Displays the names of the people who created this program

! About…: Displays the version number of The Wonderful Language ofNature and legal and copyright information

! Start Over: Closes all the open windows, clears the History list, andtakes you back to the Main Menu

! Exit Program: Takes you out of the program after asking whether youreally want to quit

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The ToolbarOn the right side of the screen is a rectangular Toolbar. It consists of twomain sections. The upper section contains shortcut buttons for variousfunctions, and the lower section stores minimized windows in the form oficons.

Clicking on a shortcut button in the Toolbar activates a function. Thefunctions represented in the Toolbar are as follows:

Word Processor: Opens the word processor that isinstalled in your computer

Drawing Tool: Opens Microsoft Paint

Web Browser: Opens the Web browser that is installedin your computer and initiates an Internet connection

Back: Takes you back to the previous screen

Highlight: Enables you to highlight text. After youclick on Highlight, the cursor appears as a marker.Drag the marker over the text you wish to highlight.To turn off the highlighting feature, click on theHighlight button again.

Add Memo: Enables you to add a memo that isattached to the currently displayed picture. When youclick on Add Memo, the cursor appears as a memoicon. If you click on the currently displayed picture,the icon will stick to its upper left-hand corner. Towrite your memo, click on the memo icon on thepicture, and a typing box will open up.

Turn Off Sound: Turns off the music and the narration

Copy Text: Places the active text in the clipboard (thecomputer's memory) so that you can paste it whereveryou wish (in a General Memo, for example, or in aword processor document)

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The lower section of the Toolbar is divided into squares. Whenever youminimize an entry, text, picture, movie, or other resource, its icon is stored inone of these squares in the Toolbar. To return a window to its original size,just click on its icon in the Toolbar.

Manipulating the Program's WindowsMuch of the information in the program is displayed in window form. Thefollowing features enable you to perform various operations on thesewindows.

Minimize: Reduces the currently displayedwindow to the size of an icon and places that iconin the Toolbar. A click on the icon of theminimized item enlarges it to its original size.

Maximize: Enlarges the currently displayedwindow to its maximum size

Create Window: Changes the format of the EntryScreen into that of a window, which can bemanipulated the same way as any other window.You can change up to three entries into windowsand display them simultaneously. (For moreinformation on the Entry Screen, see the sectionThe Knowledge Base Entry Screen below.)

Restore Entry: Changes the window that isdisplaying the entry back into the normal formatof an Entry Screen

Close: Closes the currently displayed window

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There are two ways to create a window out of an entry’s text or image:

• Double-click on the text or graphic.

Or

• Select the Options button next to the text or the graphic, and then chooseWindow.

The Main Menu Screen

The Main Menu screen consists of a graphic menu displaying the seven maintopics of the knowledge base—Courtship and Attraction, In Search of Food,Parents and Offspring, Social Standing, Territorial Dominance, Defense, andGroup Identity. Clicking on a topic opens a graphic menu of subtopics. Forexample, if you select the topic Parents and Offspring, a screen with foursubtopics appears:

! Parent-Offspring Identification

! Junior Members of Society

! Protection and Care

! Feeding

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When you select one of the subtopics, a list of entries and an introductorytext are displayed. To view an entry, click on it.

The Knowledge Base Entry Screen

The Entry Screen of the knowledge base is divided into two major areas, onefor the text and the other for images. This section describes the functionsthat are available in each of these areas. In addition to text and graphicitems, every entry provides an activity that requires analysis of the entry'scontent. The Activity icon is located in the lower right-hand corner of theEntry Screen:

When you click on this button, it opens a word processorfile that contains an activity related to the entry.

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Text AreaAt the top of the text area you will find the title of the entry. The text of eachentry is divided into sections, whose names appear under the entry's title.Click on the name of a section to view that part of the text. The words thatare highlighted in color are glossary words. To see the definition of aglossary word, click on it.

The following features are available in the text area of each entry:

3 graphic item icons Show the kinds of graphic items that are associatedwith this part of the text, as follows:

Photograph

Movie or animated sequence

Slide show

To view a graphic item, click on its icon. These iconsappear both next to the names of the sections at the topof the text and in the body of the text.

Options: Opens a menu with several editing options:

Copy: Places text into the clipboard(the computer's memory) so thatyou can paste it wherever youwish. If you have selected partof the entry's text, it will becopied. Otherwise, the entireentry will be copied.

Print: Prints the text of the entire entry

Window: Creates a separate windowcontaining the entire text of theentry. This window includesicons for viewing the entry'sgraphic items.

Delete Highlighting: Erases the highlighting that youadded to the text

Scroll bar icons Enable you to move through the entire text.

Next Heading: Jumps to the next section of text

Up, Down arrows: Move the text up or down. Clickon one of these arrows to scroll through the text.

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Scrollbar arrows: Move the text up or down. Dragthese arrows to scroll through the text.

Stops or starts the narration. When an entry comes onthe screen, the narration starts automatically (unlessyou have used the Play Sound Automatically optionto deactivate it). A click on this button turns thenarration off. To hear the narration again, click on thebutton once more. Note: Narration is available for thefirst section of each entry.

Linking Up: Provides a list of related entries in the knowledge baseand sometimes also includes Internet links. Click onthe name of an entry or an Internet link to call it up.

Image AreaThe right side of the screen displays the images that accompany the entries.The knowledge base contains several kinds of graphic items—photographs,drawings, animated sequences, short movies, and slide shows—each of whichappears with its own set of buttons.

You can change the way a still image looks on the screen by using thefollowing features:

Zooming In: To see the picture close up, click on it. When youclick, note that the cursor looks like this:

If you click repeatedly or click and hold the mousebutton down, you will obtain a more and more detailedview of the picture. Note that as you zoom in, you seeless of the whole picture.

Zooming Out: To move away from the picture and thus see more of it,click on the picture with the right-hand mouse button.The cursor looks like this:

If you click the right mouse button repeatedly or clickand hold the right mouse button down, you will movefarther and farther away from the picture. You willthus see more of the whole picture.

Viewing More Areas: Some pictures are larger than the image area on the

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screen. To see more areas of such a picture, moveyour mouse to one of the picture's edges. The cursor changes to an arrow thatlooks like this:

If you continue to hold the cursor near the edge of thepicture, more areas of the picture will come into view.This feature is particularly useful after you havezoomed into a picture and can see only a small portionof it.

Viewing the Caption: To display the caption for an image, click onthe Caption icon:

The Caption icon appears only when the image isdisplayed in a separate window.

All the graphic items are accompanied by the following button:

Options

It opens a menu with the following options:

Copy: Places the currently displayed picture in the clipboard(the computer's memory) so that you can paste it in anexternal application

Print: Prints the currently displayed picture. In animatedsequences and movies, this button is not active.

Delete Memo: Removes the memo that you added to the picture

Window: Creates a separate window containing the graphic item

Copyrights: Displays the copyright information for the graphic item

Movies and Animated Sequences

Many of the entries are accompanied by a short movie or animated sequence.The following buttons appear with each of these sequences:

Play: Starts the sequence or continues running itafter it has been stopped

Pause: Stops the sequence and freezes the pictureon the screen. To continue viewing, click onPlay.

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Full Screen Mode: Enlarges the image area of avideo sequence so that you can see the sequenceon the whole screen

Shows the progress of the sequence that isrunning

Slide Shows

Some entries are accompanied by slide shows, which are series of stillpictures related to the content of the entry. Use the following buttons tomove through a slide show:

Previous Picture: Takes you back to the previouspicture in the slide show

Next Picture: Takes you on to the next picture inthe slide show

SearchingTo locate information in the Wonderful Language of Nature, you can useseveral kinds of search mechanisms: a keyword search, a media search, and acombined search. Click on Search in the Menu Bar at the top of the screen,and select Search Window.

Media SearchWhen the Search Window opens, Media is automatically selected. All thetypes of media in the program are listed: Entries, Glossary Words, Pictures,Movies, and Slide Shows. Choose one or more types of media and click onthe Go! button. On the right side of the window you will see the searchresults—the names of all the items that match your request and, next to eachname, an icon that indicates the type of media, as follows:

Entry

Glossary word

Photograph

Movie or animated sequence

Slide Show

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Click on the name of an item to display it. If you want to start a new search,click on the Clear button.

Keyword SearchTo perform a keyword search, click on the Keywords button in the SearchWindow. A list of keywords appears on the left side of the window. Markone or more keywords.

Two options are available when conducting a keyword search:

At Least One Keyword: When this option is checked, any item that containsat least one of the words you marked will bedisplayed.

All Keywords When this option is checked, only items thatcontain all of the words you marked will bedisplayed.

Check one of the options and click on the Go! button. On the right side ofthe window you will see the search results—the names of all the items thatmatch your request, and, next to each item, an icon indicating the type ofmedia (for an explanation of the icons, see above, Media Search). Click onthe name of an item to display it. If you want to start a new search, click onthe Clear button.

Note: When you select the All Keywords option, keep in mind that only theitems that contain all the marked words will come up in the search results.Therefore, the more words you mark, the smaller the list in the search resultswill be.

Combined SearchYou can conduct a search that combines both the keyword and media searchfunctions. In the Keyword Search window, mark one or more Keywords. Inthe Media Search window, mark one or more types of media. Then click onthe Go! button. The items that match your request will be displayed on theright side of the window.

Note: When you select the All Keywords option, keep in mind that only theitems that contain all the marked words will come up in the search results.Therefore, the more words you mark, the smaller the list in the search resultswill be.

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My Copy: Making Your Mark on the ProgramThe Wonderful Language of Nature provides a facility for creating yourown "copy" of the program and personalizing it by inserting bookmarks,highlighting important passages, marking interesting pictures, and makingnotes on specific entries or pictures. The work that you do in the My Copymode does not affect other users who are working at the same computer withthe same copy of the software.

Starting OutAny user of The Wonderful Language of Nature can create a personalizedCopy in which the user’s own notes, highlighting, and bookmarks are saved.

To start your own Copy, follow these steps:

1. Select My Copy in the Menu Bar.

2. Click on Open My Copy.

3. In the area that says Name of Your Copy, type your name (one wordonly).

4. Mark the location where you want your Copy to be saved. If you save itto a floppy disk, you can open your work on another computer where TheWonderful Language of Nature is installed.

5. Click on OK.

To open your Copy at a later session, follow these steps:

1. Select My Copy in the Menu Bar.

2. Click on Open My Copy.

3. Find your name (or whatever name you gave your Copy), and click on it.

4. Click on OK.

As you are working, you can save your work by selecting Save CurrentCopy. Your Copy is automatically saved in the location that you indicatedwhen you opened the My Copy file.

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Highlighting TextYou can highlight any word, sentence, or group of sentences that you like inthe written text of an entry. To activate the highlighting feature, follow thesesteps:

1. In the Menu Bar, select My Copy.

2. Click on Highlight. The cursor turns into a marker.

3. Drag the marker over the text you want to highlight.

Or

1. In the Toolbar, click on Highlight. The cursor turns into a marker.

2. Drag the marker over the text you want to highlight.

To change the color of the highlighting, follow these steps:

1. In the Menu Bar, select My Copy.

2. Click on Change Highlighting Color. A submenu of colors opens up.

3. Click on the color of your choice. (Note that the marker in the Toolbarchanges color according to your choice.)

Adding a MemoThe Wonderful Language of Nature provides a feature for adding your ownnotes to the program. These notes are called Memos. You can post a Memoon a graphic item or on highlighted text, and you can also write a GeneralMemo that is not linked to any particular item or entry.

To add a Memo to a graphic item, follow these steps:

1. In the Menu Bar, select My Copy and click on Add Memo.OrIn the Toolbar, select Add Memo.

2. Click on the image to which you are adding the Memo. A Memo iconappears in the upper left-hand corner of the image.

3. Click on the Memo icon, and the Edit Memo window opens.

4. Type your notes in the typing area.

5. A default name for your Memo appears. If you want to change this name,type in a different one.

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6. To save your Memo, click on OK. Once your Memo has been saved, youwill see its name when you select List of Highlights and Memos in theMy Copy menu. Every time you open the Memo, the image with whichit is associated will also open up.

To add a Memo to highlighted text, follow these steps:

1. Click on the highlighted text to which you are adding the Memo. TheEdit Memo window opens.

2. Type your notes in the typing area.

3. A default name for your Memo appears. If you want to change this name,type in a different one.

4. To save your Memo, click on OK. Once your Memo has been saved, youwill see its name when you select List of Highlights and Memos in theMy Copy menu. Every time you open the Memo, the entry with which itis associated will also open up.

To write a General Memo, follow these steps:

1. In the Menu Bar, select My Copy.

2. Click on Add General Memo. The Edit Memo window opens.

3. Type your notes in the typing area.

4. A default name for your General Memo appears in the Name area. If youwant to change this name, type in a different one.

5. To save your General Memo, click on OK. Once your Memo has beensaved, you will see its name when you select List of Highlights andMemos in the My Copy menu.

6. To delete a General Memo, open the Memo and click on Delete.

If your computer is connected to a printer, you can print any Memo you havewritten. Just click on the Print button at the bottom of the Memo window.

Editing Your MemosYou can make changes to the Memos that you have added by following thesesteps:

1. In the Menu Bar, select My Copy.

2. Click on List of Highlights and Memos.

3. Click on the Memo you want to edit. The Edit Memo window opens up.

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4. Make your changes.

5. Click on OK to save your changes.

Adding a BookmarkWhen you create a Memo associated with highlighted text or an image, youhave the option of adding a Bookmark to that Memo. A Bookmark enablesyou to retrieve the Memo quickly and easily later on. To find the list of allyour Bookmarks, open the Navigation menu and select Bookmarks.

To create a Bookmark as you are writing a Memo, click on the box next tothe word Bookmark at the bottom of the Edit Memo window.

To add a Bookmark to a Memo that you created previously, follow thesesteps:

1. In the Menu Bar, select My Copy.

2. Click on List of Highlights and Memos.

3. Click on the Memo you wish to bookmark. The Edit Memo windowopens up.

4. Click on the box next to the word Bookmark at the bottom of the EditMemo window. The item is now bookmarked and will appear in theBookmark list in the Navigation menu. When you click on the name ofthe item in that list, the Memo and its associated entry or image will bedisplayed.

Removing Your Highlighting, Memos, and BookmarksTo remove a specific Memo or to remove highlighting from the text of anentry, follow these steps:

1. In the Menu Bar, select My Copy.

2. Click on Delete Memo or Highlighting. The cursor changes into aneraser.

3. Place the eraser on the Memo or highlighting that you want to delete, andclick.

To remove all the highlighting and Memos that you added to an entry, followthese steps:

1. In the Menu Bar, select My Copy.

2. Click on Clear Memos and Highlighting in Entry. All the Memos andhighlighting that are associated with the entry currently on display will beremoved.

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To remove all the highlighting and Memos from your entire Copy, followthese steps:

1. In the Menu Bar, select My Copy.

2. Click on Clean Copy. All the work that you did in the current Copy willbe erased.

Using Productivity ToolsTo take best advantage of The Wonderful Language of Nature, you can openthird-party tools directly from the program and use these tools to edit text andgraphics, to create presentations, and to produce spreadsheets. Note: Thecopying of text and pictures from the program is permitted only forpersonal use.

Depending on which applications are installed in your computer, you canaccess various kinds of tools from the Tools menu. These might include aword processor, a drawing tool, a presentation program, and a spreadsheet,for example. The word processor and drawing tool are also accessible fromthe Toolbar.

Copying Text from the Knowledge BaseTo copy text from the knowledge base and bring it into a word processor file,follow these steps:

1. Mark the text by dragging the mouse from the beginning to the end of thedesired section.

2. Copy the text by any of these methods:

• Open the Tools menu in the Menu Bar, and select Copy SelectedText.

Or

• Go to the Toolbar, and select Copy Text.

Or

• Click on the Options button, and select Copy.

Or

• Press <Ctrl> + <C> on your keyboard.

1. Open the Tools menu in the Menu Bar, and select Word Processor. Theword processor opens, displaying a new file.

2. Insert the text into the word processor file by either of these methods:

• Select the Paste function in the word processor.

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Or

• Press <Ctrl> + <V> on your keyboard.

The text will appear in the document.

Copying Pictures from the Knowledge BaseTo copy a picture from the knowledge base and bring it into a word processoror Paint, follow these steps:

1. Copy the picture by either of these methods:

• Open the Tools menu in the Menu Bar, and select Copy. Thenclick on Picture in the submenu.

Or

• Click on the Options icon next to the picture. Then select Copy.

1. Open the Tools menu in the Menu Bar, and select either Word Processoror Drawing Tool. The program you selected opens, displaying a newfile.

2. Insert the picture into the document by either of these methods:

• In the word processor or Paint, select the Paste function.

Or

• Press <Ctrl> + <V> on your keyboard.

The picture will appear in the document.

PrintingYou can print text and pictures directly from the program or from the wordprocessor or Paint. Before attempting to print, be sure that your computer isconnected to a printer. If you plan to print graphic items, your computer andprinter must support graphic printing.

To print from The Wonderful Language of Nature, follow either of thesemethods:

1. In the Menu Bar, open Tools.

2. Select either Print Text or Print Picture.

Or

1. Click on the Options button.

2. Select Print.

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The printing begins immediately.

Going On-LineIn order to go on-line directly from The Wonderful Language of Nature,your computer system must meet the following requirements:

• A Web browser (such as Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer)

• An active Internet connection (by modem, for example) while you areusing the program

Be sure to check that you have a working connection to the Internet beforeattempting to go on-line. If you encounter problems connecting to theInternet, contact your Internet service provider.

Internet sites that offer additional information on the subject matter coveredin The Wonderful Language of Nature are listed throughout the knowledgebase, at the end of entries. To access a site, just click on its address in thelist. Your Web browser will open and take you directly to the site. You canreach the same sites by selecting Internet in the Menu Bar and then theInternet Links list. Clicking on a link in the list will provide a description ofthe site and its address. To access the site, just click on the address.

Another way of accessing the Internet is by opening the Internet menu in theMenu Bar and selecting The Wonderful Language of Nature Site (or byclicking on Web Browser in the Toolbar). When the browser opens, you aretaken right to the Internet site of The Wonderful Language of Nature. Thereyou will find content-related information, research project ideas, links toother sites, a forum for directing questions to an expert, and more. If youselect MOST Web Site, you will reach the home page of the Minds-OnScience and Technology (MOST) series, which contains written andcomputer-based instructional materials and educational Internet-basedprojects.

Keep in mind that since the Internet is dynamic, you may find that some linksare no longer valid. The best way to avoid this problem is to update often,using the Update Links button