It is never too early to teach economic basics and the new Bee-Bot coin mat lets you get an early start with the youngest students. Featuring pictures of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, the coin mat offers a great way to use Bee-Bot to introduce forms, value, and use of money.

Learning about coins develops counting skills and concepts of relative value. Students can guide Bee- Bot from one type of coin to another, or from single coins to groups of two, three, or four. The coin mat offers the opportunity for lessons in both social studies and mathematics.

The new coin mat is one of many Bee-Bot subject mats offered by Terrapin which may be purchased separately or together in the Bee-Bot Worlds Class Pack . In addition to vinyl mats, Focus on Bee-Bot software incorporates the same backgrounds as the mats to emulate Bee-Bot on screen. Both utilize the motivation Bee-Bot inspires to teach a wide range of lessons for younger students.

Many Terrapin Logo users post and share their Logo programs in the Project Ideas section of the Terrapin web site. These projects offer examples of the many types of programs that may be developed with Logo and provide inspiration and ideas to others for their own projects.

Two recent projects were posted by R.J., a homeschooled student in New Mexico who is a big fan of Logo programming. One illustrates turtle animation by changing turtle shapes, sizes, and colors. The other is a functioning digital clock. It is interesting to compare R.J.'s digital clock with another posting, the analog clock project developed by Bill Russell with his son Brady. Both build on the TIME command in Terrapin Logo, which provides access to the computer's clock, allowing implementation of different kinds of clocks as these projects illustrate.

To try a project idea, download the file by clicking the file name under the "Click to Download" label and saving it in your Logo directory. Then load the file into Logo to run or into the Logo editor to study how it is built.

To share your project with others, first get it working the way you want and add comments to help others understand how it is constructed. Then save it in a Logo file and upload the file and an illustration of the project using the Project Upload Form. Check back from time to time to see what new ideas are available.

The Frequently Asked Questions section of the Terrapin web site has been recently updated with more questions, more answers, and an easier navigation system. The FAQs are the first place to go when you have a question about Terrapin Logo or any Terrapin product. Sections include Ordering and Shipping, School Licensing, Home Use, Upgrading, and Technical Questions about Terrapin products.

If you can't find the answer you are looking for in the FAQs, use the New FAQ form to submit your question. You will receive a prompt response and may find your question and its answer posted to share with others.