iPad Apps for School

The Best iOS Apps for Students and Teachers

science

iPad Apps About Animals and Cute Headphones for a Pair of Toddlers

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Yesterday, I spent the day flying from Maine to Florida with my family. We have a 28 month old and a 14 month old. As any parent who has flown with toddlers will tell you, you pull out all of the tricks to entertain your children on the days you fly. In our case that included as much iPad use as they wanted. There was plenty of Clifford watching. There was also a lot of time looking at animal pictures and videos on the Kids US Atlas and Kids World Atlas apps.

Kids US Atlas and Kids World Atlas are iPad apps that feature interactive maps. It is a freemium app which means part of it is free and part of it requires an in-app purchase. I used just the free parts with my kids. The free parts of Kids US Atlas and Kids World Atlas have an interactive map that features animals. Kids tap on the animals to see pictures and videos of the animals. The Kids US Atlas app features 25 animals and the Kids World Atlas app features 40 animals.

Mpow Headphones

The picture at the top of this post is one that I shared on my personal Facebook page and on Instagram last night. A bunch of people wanted to know where we got the headphones that our kids were wearing. We got them on Amazon, of course!

The headphones are Mpow Kids Headphones. They come in a two-pack which is perfect for those who have two young kids. But the best part is that you can plug one pair into the other so that both kids can watch and hear the same iPad or phone. The Mpow Kids Headphones are currently available from Amazon for $25.99 and are Prime eligible.

And if you’re thinking about getting a new iPad, Amazon still has current generation iPads on sale for $249!

A Fun App for Introducing Kids to Health Foods

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space chef 1Space Chef is a fun iPad app from the Lawrence Hall of Science. The purpose of the app is to introduce students to healthy foods and recipes that they may not have ever tried or even heard about.

Space Chef features a fast-paced game in which students have to quickly grab the ingredients for a recipe. The ingredients scroll past them in three streams or flight paths. Students are shown a recipe at the top of the screen and they must grab the appropriate ingredients as they stream across the screen.

Playing Space Chef could be a great way for students to be introduced to new and healthy foods. The game is suitable for elementary and middle school students. To follow up the game play, ask your students to explore what makes these foods healthy. Another follow-up to the game play is to ask your students to think about the snacks that they could take out of their diets and replace with healthier options.

PBS Students – Discover Educational Resources on Your iPad

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pbs students 1 Parts of this post originally appeared on my other blog, FreeTech4Teachers.com.

PBS Students is a new iPad app designed to showcase some of the best educational content for students. Through the app students and teachers can search for educational videos, articles, and diagrams. Some of the the video content can be downloaded directly to an iPad. The app was initially launched two weeks ago and it was updated this week. The update fixed an issue with some content shown in the app not being accessible when selected. The other update is the inclusion of a Puzzle Builder tool.

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The Puzzle Builder is an addition to PBS Learning Media’s Storyboard tool which allows you to create a collection of videos, text, and images organized around almost any topic of your choosing. The collections that you or your students create appear in a collage-like format. The storyboards function is nice for students who are over the age of 13 as they can save their collections in the app and online. Unfortunately, students who are under the age of 13 cannot save their storyboards.

Classify It! – A Fun App for Learning to Classify Plants and Animals

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classify Classify It! is a free iPad app designed to help elementary school and middle school students learn to classify plants and animals. In the app students are given a question and shown a selection of plants and animals. Respond to the question students have to correctly identify the plants and animals that answer the question. For example, on the second level of the game students are asked to identify the animals that are mammals and they then have to select the mammals from a gallery of pictures. If students need help understanding the question or prompt on a level, they can tap the question mark icon to receive a bit of clarification.

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Creature Cards provide an incentive to students to complete each level of Classify It! with 100% accuracy. When students complete a level with 100% accuracy they receive Creature Cards. Creature Cards are essentially trading cards that feature a plant or animal picture along with some information about it. Students can make as many attempts as they need in order to complete a level with 100% accuracy.

DIY Lake Science – Simulations and Activities for Learning About Lakes

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diy lake science DIY Lake Science is a relatively new iPad app from the Lawrence Hall of Science. The free iPad app is designed to help students learn about lake ecosystems. In the app students will find a small simulation of a lake ecosystem. Students can change the depth of the lake, the temperature, and the general climate around the lake to learn how those changes alter the ecosystem. After using the simulation students can learn more about lake ecosystems in the DIY Lake Science video library.

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To meet the expectation of the “DIY” in DIY Lake Science you will find directions for a dozen hands-on activities designed to help students learn more about lake ecosystems. Half of the activities, like “make a lake” and “freezing lakes” can be conducted indoors in a classroom or at home with the help of parents. The other half of the DIY Lake Science activities require going outdoors to learn how to measure the murkiness of water, find aquatic insects, and to see how run-off affects lakes.