JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade facts for kids

JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade is a fun personal computer game made by Knowledge Adventure. It came out in 2002 and was designed to help second grade students learn. This game took the place of an older version called JumpStart 2nd Grade from 1996.

From 2003 to 2008, this game was often sold as part of a bigger package with 3 or 4 discs. Sometimes, due to a mistake, a different game called JumpStart 3D Virtual World: The Quest for the Color Meister was included instead.

Quick facts for kids JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade
The 2007 cover of JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade
Developer(s)	Knowledge Adventure
Publisher(s)	Knowledge Adventure
Series	JumpStart
Platform(s)	Windows, Macintosh
Release date(s)	2002
Genre(s)	Educational
Mode(s)	Single player

Just like the first game, JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade features the main characters C.J. the frog and his friend Edison the firefly. You'll also meet other familiar faces from different JumpStart games, like Hopsalot the rabbit from JumpStart Kindergarten, and Frankie the dog from JumpStart 1st Grade.

The story in this game is more exciting than the original. A bad guy named Dr. O, who is an animal-like snail, is causing trouble. He even vandalizes "Mount Jumpmore" (a funny version of Mount Rushmore) by drawing mustaches on the faces! The JumpStart characters, who are part of the "JumpStart Intelligence Agency" (J.I.A.), need your help to fix everything Dr. O messes up.

Hopsalot, the smart rabbit, plans to build a special machine called the "Soapy Shooter" to clean up the graffiti. But he needs parts to build it. So, C.J., Edison, and you, the player, travel to different continents. You play educational games to earn "gadget pieces." Once you have enough pieces, you play another game to make Hopsalot's machine work.

Dr. O keeps causing new problems, so you go on more quests for gadget pieces. There are six different missions in total. For example, you might need to inflate an island Dr. O deflated, get rid of worms from a school, or thaw out a river he turned into ice cubes!

Meet the JumpStart Characters

All the characters in this game are animal-like animals. Their outfits in JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade are often different from what they wear in other JumpStart games.

Frankie the Dog

Frankie is a dachshund dog and the leader of the JumpStart Intelligence Agency. He first appeared in JumpStart 1st Grade. Even though he's on the game's cover, he doesn't go on adventures much. He mostly stays at headquarters while C.J. does the exploring. In this game, Frankie is light brown and wears a white tuxedo. In other games, he usually wears a red sweater.

Hopsalot the Rabbit

Hopsalot, also called "Hops," is a rabbit who first appeared in JumpStart Kindergarten. He is very smart and great at inventing new things. In this game, he's the scientist for the J.I.A. He's light brown and wears goggles with a white suit. His usual outfit in other games was a teal T-shirt.

C.J. the Frog

C.J. is a frog and one of the main characters. He first appeared in the original JumpStart 2nd Grade game. He loves adventure! His look is different in this game; he's taller and thinner, bright green, and wears sunglasses, a light coat, and a hat. He's sometimes called "Pond" by Frankie and Dr. O, which might be a nod to James Bond.

Edison the Firefly

Edison is C.J.'s firefly friend and also appeared in the original 2nd Grade game. He doesn't seem to like adventures much. He once said he wished gadget pieces were hidden in "quiet places" like golf courses! In this game, he has an Irish-sounding accent. His look is very different from his first appearance; he's blue-green with a new hat and outfit. He might be named after Thomas Edison, who invented the light bulb.

Lucy the Frog

Lucy is a female frog who looks a bit like C.J., but she's darker and wears red lipstick. She shows up in different continents as an "agent in the field." She always uses a different name that sounds like "Lucy," like "Dr. Lucicle" in Antarctica or "Lucianova" in Russia. She wears sunglasses, so you never see her eyes.

Dr. O the Snail

Dr. O is the main villain of the game. He's a snail with a yellow-orange body, a big brown shell, glasses, and a brown shirt with a red tie. He loves to cause trouble, especially by vandalizing things. He really dislikes C.J., and they seem to have a rivalry.

How to Play the Game

The main part of the game is the J.I.A. headquarters. You'll see a small world map with red dots. Clicking on a dot makes C.J. and Edison travel to that place. Once they arrive, Lucy will introduce herself with a new name. You can click on different things to learn facts about them.

To get a gadget piece, you need to play an educational game. These games usually involve helping Lucy with a task. After you finish a game, Lucy gives you a gadget piece, which goes into your inventory.

Once you have at least 4 gadget pieces, you go back to headquarters. There, you play another game in Hopsalot's laboratory to activate his machine. After that, you click around certain areas to complete a task. Then, you'll hear that Dr. O has caused another problem, and the whole process starts again! You'll need to find more gadget pieces for Hopsalot's next invention. Once all the missions are done, the game essentially restarts.

Educational Games You'll Play

The games are named after the places where you play them. Like many JumpStart games, there are three difficulty levels for the problems. There's also a separate level that controls how hard the games themselves are. Many games need you to complete a certain number of rounds to get a gadget piece.

Africa: Cave Drawings

In Africa, C.J. and Edison need to "uncover the secret of the cave drawings." You play a game that teaches reading comprehension. You read a short story and then place pictures on a background to show what the story says. For example, if the story mentions a bird in a tree, you put a bird picture on the tree. Sometimes, you might place blocks of text instead of images.

Antarctica: Penguin Bridge

In Antarctica, "Dr. Lucicle" (Lucy) needs to help sick penguins. To build a bridge for them, you arrange ice flows with pictures or text in a specific order. This might involve putting words in alphabetical order, Roman numerals in counting order, or pictures of an animal's life cycle in the correct sequence.

Australia: Mail Delivery

In Australia, you help Lucy deliver mail. C.J. drives a car to collect mail bags, making sure to pick up gas cans so the car doesn't run out of fuel. You use the arrow keys to steer and the space bar to shoot a laser at obstacles. Gas cans have text next to them, and C.J. will tell you what kind of text to collect. For example, he might ask for gas with odd numbers or even numbers, teaching you mathematics. He might also ask for words with blends or digraphs, helping with language arts and reading.

France, Europe: Art Museum

France has two games. One is a painting game that doesn't give you a gadget piece. The other game is in an art gallery that's missing artwork. In each round, you see a room with three artworks and an empty frame. C.J. explains the type of art in the room (like monochromatic or polychromatic colors, portraits, or landscapes). You then go to the museum's basement to find the right type of picture. In the basement, you guide C.J. with a broom using the arrow keys to clean dirty areas. The space bar lets you look inside crates. If a crate has the right art, you push it to the door. You need a clean path to the door. Watch out for dirt devils, as they make areas dirty again and make you lose a "broom" (life).

New Orleans, United States: Music Time

In New Orleans, Louisiana, you play a game that teaches music. You'll find a missing section in a piece of music and need to choose the correct note or notes to fill the gap. There's also a mode where you can create your own music.

Russia, Europe: Snowman Checkers

This game in Russia is like a board game with red and black checker-style spaces and snowman game pieces. The snowmen hold signs with words on them. Your goal is to get one of C.J.'s pieces to the other side of the board before Lucianova (Lucy/the computer) gets hers across. You can block Lucy's pieces if they hold the same color sign as your piece. You can also block them using antonyms (words with opposite meanings) of the word on their sign.

South America: Frogger-like Game

This game is similar to Frogger. You make C.J. walk and hop on logs, turtles, and alligators using the arrow keys. A question appears at the bottom of the screen, which Edison reads aloud. C.J. must reach the island that has the correct answer to the question. This game teaches various subjects, including U.S. coins, mathematics, and language arts.

Hopsalot's Laboratory: Logic Puzzles

This game doesn't give you gadget pieces. Instead, you play it after you've collected at least 4 gadget pieces. You can access it by clicking a star above the world map at headquarters (if you have enough pieces) or by clicking a bookshelf. If you use the star, you'll use the gadget pieces you earned to activate Hopsalot's invention, which helps fix Dr. O's problems. If you click the bookshelf, it's like a practice mode; you won't use your earned pieces, and it won't advance the main story.

In this game, you usually see a ball on one side of the screen and Hopsalot's invention on the other. You arrange different gadget pieces to make the ball touch the invention. The ball will bounce, be pushed, or react in other ways to the pieces. This game is designed to teach you logic.