Brooke Smith

App Review

EDU-381-01

March 4, 2018

3rd Grade Science

Vibration Meter, Seismograph, Seismometer

Vibration meter is an app called seismograph or seismometer, which measures the strength of vibration,
quakes, earthquakes, vibrations of the human body or any other objects around you.

Pros: This app allows for detecting and recording of seismic waves generated by earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, avalanches and other sources of vibration and shocks. This app is also free! Measures
different levels of vibrations and impact damages.

Cons: A lot of pop up ads. Vibrations will sometimes be stuck at zero.

 Tone Generator: Audio Frequency Sound Waves
Generate pure sine wave tones at frequencies from 20hz to 22,000hz. Tone generation is useful in tuning
instruments, hearing tests, science experiments, and testing audio equipment.

Pros: This app is free! Use for hearing tests, tuning instruments, science experiments, and audio system
tests. Created by the audio experts at TMSOFT that brought you the famous White Noise app.

Cons: The sound output drops out while dragging the frequency slider, instead of producing a continuous
tone. The frequency slider is also a bit unstable, swishing the frequency up/down by occasionally
significant amounts when my finger lifts off the control, which requires using the fine-tuner to restore the
desired setting.

2.P.1 Understand the relationship between sound and vibrating objects.

2. P.1.1 Illustrate how sound is produced by vibrating objects and columns of air.

2. P.1.2 Summarize the relationship between sound and objects of the body that vibrate – eardrum and
vocal cords

Thermometer and Forecast

Weather Widget with live rain radar for iPhone!

Pros: Shows the radar, easy to distinguish colors for rain, snow and mixed precipitation.

Cons: A lot of ads. Depending on what cell service you have could impact how fast it loads. Slow to
update.
 Weather Instruments
Experience the five most useful weather instruments at a great price:

Barometer - Atmospheric pressure,

Anemometer - Wind speed,
Hygrometer - Check moisture,
Real Altimeter,
UV - Ultraviolet.

Pros: The graphics are inspired by the real instruments, perfected in every detail to make using simple
and enjoyable. Barometer, Anemometer, Hygrometer, Real Altimeter, and UV are all included in this app.
It also included many different languages.

Cons: This app isn’t free. It costs $4.99.

2.E.1 Understand patterns of weather and factors that affect weather.

2.E.1.1 Summarize how energy from the sun serves as a source of light that warms the land, air and
water.

2.E.1.2 Summarize weather conditions using qualitative and quantitative measures to describe:

• Temperature

• Wind direction

• Wind speed

• Precipitation

2.E.1.3 Compare weather patterns that occur over time and relate observable patterns to time of day
and time of year.

2.E.1.4 Recognize the tools that scientists use for observing, recording, and predicting weather changes
from day to day and during the seasons.
 Animal Life Cycle – Insects and Arachnids

Teaching about life cycles is usually done in the lower primary. Understanding the concept of life cycles
can be difficult for some children, so the best way to teach it is to use it within a context young children
will understand and recognize.

Pros: 21 most popular insects and it goes through their life cycle. Uses sound effects and animation.
Using a familiar drag and drop method, this App shows how the insects change as they develop. And the
icing on the cake is that the child will get to watch fascinating bonus videos of their favorite insect
whenever they are able to correctly complete the life cycle.

Cons: This app costs money. It costs $1.99. Sometimes glitches and crashes.

Animals Life Cycle - Mammals And Their Young

Teaching about animal names is usually done in the elementary levels. We have selected 24 most
popular mammals that will definitely amaze your student and get them interested to learn everything
about them, starting with their baby and adult names.

Pros: This app is free! Your student will also be rewarded with a live animated safari animal that they can
manage in their very own safari. For every correct attempt in the intuitive drag n drop quiz, they will be
rewarded with the animal and will soon be on their way to create their own herd of elephants, pride of
lions and troop of gorillas! With this app, your child will be motivated to learn, recognize, identify and even
correctly spell all the animals names as he populated 24 groups of different animals thriving in his very
own Safari Zoo.

Cons: Might be intended for the younger audience but has some good vocabulary for older students.

2.L.1 Understand animal life cycles.

2.L.1.1 Summarize the life cycle of animals including:

• Birth

• Developing into an adult

• Reproducing

• Aging and death

2.L.1.2 Compare life cycles of different animals such as, but not limited to, mealworms, ladybugs,
crickets, guppies or frogs.

Solids, Liquids and Gases

An interactive simulation of the particle model.
Pros: Learn about particles and what they’re made of and how they behave and change.

Cons: This app isn’t free. It costs $2.99.

Changes in Matter (School)

A perfect app for an integrated science, chemistry, or physical science course that is designed to engage
students to explore the topic of changes in matter. It is designed to address the needs of all students in
the topic. It includes ClassWerkz, a learning management tool for teachers.

Pros: Covers many subtopics including physical change and chemical change, expansion and
contraction, and transformation from a solid to a gas. Includes self-assessments and hands-on
experiments.

Cons: May be too technical for 3rd graders but still has really good content and good vocabulary.

2.P.2 Understand properties of solids and liquids and the changes they undergo.

2.P.2.1 Give examples of matter that change from a solid to a liquid and from a liquid to a solid by
heating and cooling.

2.P.2.2 Compare the amount (volume and weight) of water in a container before and after freezing.

2.P.2.3 Compare what happens to water left in an open container over time as to water left in a closed
container.
 Classify It!
Think you know what poison ivy and a firefly have in common? How about some of the ways a dolphin
and a goldfish are different? Download Classify It!, a new game from AAAS Science NetLinks, to test your
knowledge of how various organisms can be sorted and grouped.

Pros: Has 30 levels to earn special Creature Cards. Multi-user system. Educational information about
classification. Three progressively difficult modes teach classification. It’s also free!

Cons: Requires students to know a fair amount about plants and animals. Some incorrect information
may be found in the app.

Leafsnap
Leafsnap is the first in a series of electronic field guides being developed by researchers from Columbia
University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution. This free mobile app uses visual
recognition software to help identify tree species from photographs of their leaves.
Pros: Contains beautiful high-resolution images of leaves, flowers, petioles, seeds, and bark to aid
identification. Currently includes trees found in the Northeastern United States and Canada. This app is
also free!

Cons: Sometimes creating an account can be tedious. Some countries have trouble using it because it
doesn’t include their location.

2.L.2 Remember that organisms differ from or are similar to their parents based on the characteristics of
the organism.

2.L.2.1 Identify ways in which plants and animals closely resemble their parents in observed appearance
and ways they are different.

2.L.2.2 Recognize that there is variation among individuals that are related.