Science (7-12)

Curriculum App Reviews - Science (7-12)

Title: 3D Brain

Publisher: Dolan DNA Learning Center, AXS Studio

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, Android

Cost: Free

Review: This app is an excellent tool for science teachers learning about the brain. I learned a great deal from this app about what functions certain areas of the brain control. The app highlights specific areas of the brain, describes studies done on the brain, and even lets you easily navigate to parts of the brain that you would like to know more about. This would be a great reference tool to display thru a projector because of the vibrant colors and easy to understand language that the program has.

Submitted By: Josh Margerum, Hamilton City Schools

Title: 3D Earthquake (Beta)

Publisher: Jupiter Apps

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: This application allows you to visualize recent earthquakes on a 3D hollow globe. It shows earthquake magnitude, depth and age, as well as tectonic plates, an earthquake ticker showing large earthquakes.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Al Gore - Your Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis

Publisher: Push Pop Press

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: $4.99

Review: This is what an interactive book should look like. Our Choice is an amazing look into the issues of global warming. This book is full of amazing pictures, stunning videos and awesome graphics. If all future books on the iPad are this amazing, the future looks bright.

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith, Canton City Schools

Title: Astronomy Picture of the Day

Publisher: Sam Oakley / Concentric Sky

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, Android

Cost: Free

Review: Quick and easy app that gives you the latest pictures from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. It also allows you to read interesting facts about pictures of the universe.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Calculator Pro

Publisher: MYW Productions

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Free

Review: An App Store Rewind 2011 winner, Calculator Pro is a calculator that can grow with students. Use it as a standard calculator for basic operations or tilt to landscape and it transforms into a scientific calculator. The large keyboard is easy to use, just swipe to edit number inputs. It includes adjustable themes to customize the look, and optional skins for $0.99. It is particularly useful for middle school students whose math curriculum includes the need for both basic and scientific calculators. It's a great math tool for any level and its size also makes it useful for the visually impaired.

Submitted By: Rhonda Dickinson, South-Western City Schools

Title: Caster: Mobile Studio

Publisher: Gregory Maculo

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Free version available, Full version $4.99

Review: Caster Mobile Studio allows teachers and students of all content areas to create podcasts. Podcasting is an engaging way for students to explain what they know through easy audio recordings. This app makes this even simpler with the use from either an iPod Touch or iPad. Podcasts can be shared via email, Dropbox, or your own school's server. Tired of giving the same old paper and pencil tests? Have your students create a podcast instead!

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith, Canton City Schools

Title: Chemical Balancer Equation Pro

Publisher: Sure Shot

Available For: Android

Cost: $1.00

Review: I know even as teachers we sometimes struggle with balancing out chemical equations. This application is a very user-friendly tool that allows you to simply input an equation and get results in seconds. This would be great for any science teacher that is looking to demonstrate problem examples to their students.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Cloud On

Publisher: Cloud On, Inc.

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Free

Review: Cloud on is a free app that allows you to create, view, and modify Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files directly on your iPad. There are many other apps out there that allow you to do this but I have not seen one that is free. The documents you create are easily shared to a Dropbox account (which you will need to set up). This is also free. This app could be used in any class that creates documents. Awesome app for creating those digital portfolios.

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith, Canton City Schools

Title: Coaster Physics

Publisher: Ziconic

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: $.99

Review: I am a ninth physical science teacher, and this is one of my favorite apps that I have come across. It integrates many concepts including energy, gravity, speed and acceleration. In this app, you hop in the passenger seat of a roller coaster (either a pre-made coaster or one you design yourself) and observe the changes in PE/KE, G force and speed as you ride. Not only is a numerical value given for each but the data is even plotted in a graph overlaying the ride. The kids love it! Highly recommended.

Submitted By: David Knapp, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Construction Zone HD

Publisher: Digital Concepts

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Lite version free, Full version $2.99

Review: Students individually build structures from wooden pieces to reach a target height trying to make them sturdy enough to withstand the pull of gravity. They discover that triangles are "rigid" compared to rectangles or parallelograms. Excellent for geometry unit focused on characteristics of polygons or high school physics course.

Submitted By: Virginia Wysong, Tri-County North Local Schools

Title: Deluxe Moon

Publisher: Lifeware Solutions

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, Android

Cost: Free, Standard version $3.99, Pro version $4.99

Review: Deluxe Moon is a great app that can be used on a daily basis for getting updated images of the moon in its different phases. It allows you to see different images of its surface along with information of the different phases. This is a great application that I have been using in the classroom on a daily basis to integrate the moon phases right at the beginning of class. It really allows students to see the different phases.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Discovery Channel

Publisher: Discovery Communications

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Free

Review: The Discovery Channel app provides users with daily videos, news, quizzes and photos. This is a very engaging app and students love it. My students love watching the videos and then having discussions about the topics.

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith, Canton City Schools

Title: Earthquake Alert!

Publisher: Josh Clemm

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: Good little app that allows you to look at recent earthquakes from all over the world. This application provides you with the latest earthquakes, a map of the recent activity, and news from all over the world. This would be great when discussing plate tectonics.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Electricity Calculator

Publisher: anvesoft

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: Find out how much electricity you are using and how much it is actually costing you! This app will walk you through using your electric meter or the wattage on your appliance to determine how much electricity you are using. Based on the cost per kWh, you can find out how much it costs per day, month or year! Great app for energy unit.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Formulas Lite

Publisher: Abhishek Kumar

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: This application is simple and easy to use. It gives you access to a collection of the most important formulas for math, physics & chemistry. This application includes a scientific calculator, interesting facts, and a translator.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Frog Dissection

Publisher: Emantras Inc

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: $3.99

Review: Any Science teacher that wants to do classroom dissections but can't afford it should check this app out. Not only is this app a reasonable price but it is a lot less messy. Middle School students who are learning about organs and organ functions will find this app very beneficial. This app comes with the dissection tools and explanations for every aspect of the dissection process. When the dissection is complete this app offers a quiz for students to study organs and organ systems.

Submitted By: Scott Dickerson, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Gene Screen

Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Free

Review: This app is useful for those studying genetic disorders. It has a lot of information about recessive disorders and has been helpful to my students. It has blank punnett squares and traits calculators to help students practice figuring out the chances of getting certain disorders. It also shows how disorders have become prevalent in certain parts of the world due to immigration.

Submitted By: Sarah Distler, Hamilton City Schools

Review: Very cool app to use in a biology classroom. We used it when discussing gene inheritance and recessive diseases. The app also gives great examples of punnent squares that allow you to interact and create your own combinations. The app is definitely interactive and educational. Two thumbs up.

Submitted By: Tyler Belew, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Genetic Decoder

Publisher: Evan Metsky

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Free

Review: This app is very basic but helped our students learn genetic decoding for amino acids. It allows you to type in the genetic code and then it displays the amino acid name and its chemical make up. Neat and useful for science students studying this topic but very basic.

Submitted By: Tyler Belew, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Geo Quiz

Publisher: Urbian

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: This is a really fun and interactive application that puts students to the test. Have them take a quiz over many different parts of geography. Categories include: countries and flags, capitals, oceans, rivers, and lakes, mountains and peaks, forests, deserts and plains, people, great explorers, climate change, food, and random questions. Very fun quiz!

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Google Sky Map

Publisher: Google, Inc.

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: This application allows students to identify what they are looking up at in the sky. Great tool used for talking about constellations, other planets, as well as other celestial bodies. This app brings the solar system more to life instead of just looking at pictures from a textbook.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Human Atlas Lite

Publisher: Blausen Medical Communications

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Free

Review: This app has great, short videos that explain various science concepts in a simple form to students. Apps include cancer, circulatory system, digestive system, reproductive, etc. It is available in 13 languages. It also gives a great picture of the human body that you can rotate and identify various muscles, bones and organs.

Submitted By: Sarah Distler, Hamilton City Schools

Title: iCell

Publisher: HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Free

Review: This app has very helpful and interesting pictures of animal, plant and bacteria cells. It has 3 levels of explanations that are helpful for various levels of students. Excellent resource for students learning about cells!

Submitted By: Sarah Distler, Hamilton City Schools

Title: iResponse

Publisher: TATE, Inc.

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: $.99, the Pro version is $4.99

Review: iResponse is another classroom responder system. Unlike other classroom responder systems, iResponse works in conjunction with your own laptop. Using the wireless network in your school, iResponse allows teachers to create quizzes on the computer and "push" questions to their students immediately. I also like the fact that teachers can create questions on the fly and push them to their students. iResponse works seamlessly and the students love taking quizzes. I have used this app many times to do quick comprehension checks during the teaching of the lesson. This is wonderful for students who are afraid of answering out loud for fear of being wrong. No one knows if a student got the answer correct except the teacher and the individual student. NOTE: the teacher laptop also needs to download the free iResponse software from their website.

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith, Canton City Schools

Title: Keynote

Publisher: Apple

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: $9.99

Review: Keynote is Apple Inc.'s version of Powerpoint. Keynote on the iPad is so user friendly you won't want to make presentations on any other device again. Take pictures and videos from your iPad2 camera and add them to your presentations just like that. Simple is the key phrase here. Kids will love making presentations on the iPad and sharing them with others. This app can be used for assessment in every subject area.

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith, Canton City Schools

Title: Light Pollution - USA

Publisher: JowCo

Available For: Android

Cost: $1.99

Review: This app gives you the option to scan through a giant map of North America to find the darkest skies near you. This is a great astronomy app can be used to talk about the growing of light pollution in large cities and not being able to see as many stars or planets in the night sky.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Metrics Conversion Pro

Publisher: Kalyani

Available For: Android

Cost: Lite version is free, Pro version is $1.99

Review: This is a great app that can be used for your math and science classes for calculating conversions. This application allows you to customize and create your list of favorite calculators. Whether it be kilometers to miles or figuring out fractions, this app has it all. Speed and velocity, kilograms-pounds, pressure conversions, angle conversions are just a few of the many, many other conversions found with this app.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Minerals and Gemstones

Publisher: Jourist Verlags GmbH

Available For: Android, iPhone, iTouch, iPad

Cost: $3.99

Review: Discover the fascinating world of the treasures beneath your feet. Minerals and Gemstones is a reference guide to 300 different minerals and gemstones, from simple sandstones to sanidine, jade and diamond. Learn what the Earth is made of, how its rocks were formed and how minerals and gems are used today.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Mobile Observatory - Astronomy

Publisher: KreApp Development

Available For: Android

Cost: $3.99

Review: This is a great application for astronomy. This application will give you updates and notifications on lunar/solar eclipses and when the next one will happen, when Jupiter and the moon meet in the sky, or what that blazing bright light in the sky is. This app will provide you with up-to-date celestial events that would be visible in your location.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Moon Phase Pro

Publisher: Udell Enterprises, Inc.

Available For: Android

Cost: $.99

Review: This app shows phases, crescent angle, and rise/set times for any location. It also you provides you with a calendar that will show you the phases of the moon at a glance. Also provides you with notifications of the major phases.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: NASA App

Publisher: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, Android

Cost: Free

Review: The NASA App is an app that immediately grabs the attention of adults and kids alike. I showed my students this app and most of them downloaded it that night. I use this app as a beginning of class activity because there is always an interesting "NASA image of the day" that the students are very captivated by. I love this app for my classroom and also love to check it out on my free time!

Submitted By: Josh Margerum, Hamilton City Schools

Title: New Scientist

Publisher: New Scientist

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: New Scientist is an application that can be used with current and up-to-date reports on the very latest science and technology. Students are able to see the scientific advances and contributions made each and everyday. This app is very easy, it's free, and convenient. I have used this as class discussion on current events.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Numbers

Publisher: Apple, Inc.

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: $9.99

Review: Numbers is a great spreadsheet app from Apple. This app on the iPad makes creating spreadsheets easier than ever. I use this app daily in my class to keep track of grades, skills, and other information on my students. The user interface is simple and elegant. This is one of my favorite apps ever. Kids in math class could use this app to create many types of tables and graphs.

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith, Canton City Schools

Title: Periodic Table

Publisher: Socratica, LLC

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: This application shows the the different elements that are found on the Periodic Table. Whenever a student has a question about an element, this can be your go to guy. It provides information such as block, group, period, series, and discovery year. It also allows students to look at the different properties of metals and nonmetals. Great Application for chemistry!

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: PhysOrg.com Science News

Publisher: PhysOrg.com

Available For: Android

Cost: Lite version free, Full version $5.00

Review: Daily spotlight on science and technology news stories. This includes stories in the fields of physics, medicine, nanotechnology, electronics, space and earth sciences, biology, chemistry, computer sciences, engineering, mathematics, etc. This is a great way of showing current events to your students and having class discussions on them.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Planets

Publisher: Dana Peters

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Free

Review: This is a 3D guide to our solar system. This interactive app is not the best planet app available but for the price it gets the job done. Your students will have fun with this app.

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith , Canton City Schools

Title: Pocket Universe

Publisher: John Kennedy

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: $2.99

Review: This wonderful app displays the solar system on your iPhone in real time. Point your iPhone to the sky and names of stars and planets appear on the screen. This is an amazing app and highly engaging for students. This one is well worth the price.

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith, Canton City Schools

Title: Popplet

Publisher: Notion Inc.

Available For: iPad

Cost: Lite Version Free, Full Version $4.99

Review: Popplet is a cool little app that allows students and teachers to create simple graphic organizers. There is nothing fancy about this app. It is a simple and easy to use graphic organizer and that's it. This is a great app for students who are just beginning to use graphic organizers and can be used as a great tool for digital portfolios. There is also an internet based version of Popplet but it cannot work on iDevices due to their lack of Flash.

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith, Canton City Schools

Title: PopSci.com

Publisher: The Zumobi Network

Available For: Android, iPad, iPhone, iTouch

Cost: Free

Review: This application delivers cutting edge scientific research, gadgets and green tech. PopSci.com's news-reader app delivers all the content from PopSci.com in an easy-to-read format on the go. You’ll get up-to-the-minute news on the cutting edge in scientific research and gadgets.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Puzzle Planets

Publisher: National Geographic

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: $.99

Review: Puzzle Planets provides a fun connection to the Theory of Plate Tectonics and the Theory of Evolution. While solving a puzzle, the student reviews types of plate boundaries (convergent and divergent) and effects of plate movement. Upon completion of each level, the "organism" increases in complexity (slight connection to the Theory of Evolution). I have used this App to review plate boundaries in my Plate Tectonics unit. (Science Grade 8).

Submitted By: Kathleen Wheeler, South-Western City Schools

Title: Quiz US States

Publisher: Nicolas Cornette

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: Good review app for the use of U.S. state capitals. Includes four game modes: find state code, find state on map, find state name from its flag, or find state capital.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Rock Cycle - Interactive Story

Publisher: Basic 12 Innovations

Available For: iPhone, iTouch, iPad

Cost: Free

Review: Progress through this clever interactive poem about the life of a rock. Learn more about different aspects through the diagrams, animations, or mini-games. Use this basic app in 3rd-8th grade to teach about how rocks are formed.

Submitted By: Virginia Wysong, Tri-County North Local Schools

Title: Science 360

Publisher: National Science Foundation

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Free

Review: Very cool app with tons and tons of images and video. The app needs more organization to quickly search topics and information. It also takes a couple of minutes to load because it is so data heavy. Awesome app thought to show reinforcing videos in class.

Submitted By: Tyler Belew, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Seism Detector

Publisher: Guilhem BELLION

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: Use your device as a real-life seismograph. This tool allows you to detect and measure the intensity of different vibrations. Great application that can be used for plate tectonic discussion, earthquakes, etc.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Smart Distance

Publisher: Smart Tools

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: You can measure distance to a target by the camera perspective. This would be another (and unique) way of measuring distances to help find speed,velocity, and acceleration. Great app for math and science classes.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Solar System Explorer

Publisher: Neil Burlock

Available For: Android

Cost: Lite version is free, Full version is $1.99

Review: This is a 3D interactive application of the solar system. There are many features to this application that include the planets, moons, asteroids, and space probes that have visited them. Surface images include those taken from telescopes or NASA spacecraft.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Solar Walk - 3D Solar System Model

Publisher: Vito Technology Inc.

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: $2.99

Review: Solar Walk 3D is a very cool app that shows everything you need to know about the solar system in beautiful and engaging pictures, diagrams, and explanations. Students will love to look up information on the iPods or iPads. This is much cooler than looking up information in a text book.

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith, Canton City Schools

Title: Sound Meter Pro

Publisher: Smart Tools

Available For: Android

Cost: Lite version is free, Pro version is $.99

Review: This application is a good tool to be used during your sound unit. It gives you level notification and line-chart duration. This is a cheap, but efficient way of talking about amplitude and loudness.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Space Facts

Publisher: JowCo (Android) or Adam Williams (iDevices)

Available For: iPhone, iTouch, iPad, Android

Cost: iDevices $.99, Android free

Review: Did you know that it would take more than 150 years to drive to the sun? This is just one example of the many facts this application has to offer. Good little app that presents you with fun space facts for your students. This can be used at the beginning or the end of class just to give something for your students to think about.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Speed Gun

Publisher: Smart Tools

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: This application is great for measuring speed, velocity, and calculating acceleration. You can measure the speed of an object. Usage is simple. To measure the speed, input the closest distance to the target, and then touch the screen following target. In order to find the distance travel you will need some type of range finder (Smart Distance).

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Speed Anatomy

Publisher: Benoit Essiambre

Available For: iPhone, iTouch, iPad, Android

Cost: $.99

Review: Good anatomy review game for students to cover all of the different parts of the human body. This game contains over 300 parts from the major regions of the body. Earn extra points for precision and speed of finding the different parts.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Speed Muscles MD

Publisher: Benoit Essiambre

Available For: iPhone, iTouch, iPad, Android

Cost: $2.99

Review: A good review app for figuring out the names of all the different muscles. It contains dozens of images and hundreds of labeled muscles. Earn bonus points through precision and timing. So throw away the old flash cards and have fun with this app!

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Star Chart

Publisher: Escapist Games Limited

Available For: iPhone, iTouch, iPad, Android

Cost: $2.99

Review: Another great application for your astronomy classes. This app allows you to point your device anywhere in the sky and tell you exactly what you are looking at. It contains all of the constellations, information about the planets and sun, and over 5,000 stars that will be identified. Gives you the capability to zoom in on specific things for extra detail.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: TinkerBox HD

Publisher: Autodesk, Inc.

Available For: iPhone, iTouch, iPad

Cost: Free

Review: Learn basic engineering concepts while solving the fun mechanical problems. After progressing through the tutorials you can build or edit various Rube Goldberg type contraptions that do simple tasks. Appropriate for teaching simple machines, inventing, and physics laws of energy or motion. See sample inventions at http://tinkerboxnews.com/featured/

Submitted By: Virginia Wysong, Tri-County North Local Schools

Title: Units

Publisher: Alex Price

Available For: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone

Cost: Free

Review: Units is a great free app for converting one unit to another. Want to know how many cups are in 15 gallons. This app will tell you. There are no special bells and whistles in this app but it is awesome. I use it in my personal life as well as in school with the students. Some times we don't need to figure out how to convert everything. Some times we just need the answer. This app will do this for you.

Submitted By: Jonathan Smith, Canton City Schools

Title: Visual Anatomy

Publisher: Image Magic Studio

Available For: Android

Cost: Lite version free, Full version $2.49

Review: This is a good little interactive reference and educational tool. You are presented with high-quality anatomy images. You are able to zoom in to any area of the body to learn more on that part. Also provides you with detailed information on each section.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Volcano Report

Publisher: WebEndemics

Available For: Android

Cost: Free

Review: This is a basic app that shows recent volcanic activity all over the world. You can use an interactive map to find the location of the different volcanoes and also pull up detailed information about the ongoing activity and their eruptions.

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Title: Weather, Radar, Alerts, Quakes

Publisher: Elecont Software

Available For: Android

Cost: $2.99

Review: Great app to use with your weather unit. This application provides weather updates, weather forecasts, latest earthquakes, live radar, a pressure change indicator, and a moon and sun indicator. Students gain a better understanding of the weather through real-live weather reports. It is a great app to tie into your earthquake unit as well. If you are looking for something to add to your weather unit THIS could be it!

Submitted By: Sam Young, Hamilton City Schools

Curriculum App Reviews