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By Stefan Dubowski
This award-winning game helps children aged three to eight get familiar with physics while sharpening their problem-solving skills. Students guide cute characters through a maze in which objects can be moved or removed to clear the way. Buoyancy, gravity, force, acceleration and elasticity all come into play. The further users progress within the app, the more difficult the tasks become. The good news is — there are no penalties for starting over. Your miniature maze masterminds can try, try and try again! And, as they do, they practise perseverance, an important aspect of the “growth mindset” approach, which is of growing importance in today’s classrooms.
DEVICE: Apple, Android
SOURCE: iTunes ($5.49); Google Play ($3.99)
RATING: 4+; Everyone
Middle school students can maintain and improve their math basics with this app. Early levels start out simply but the quizzes get increasingly more difficult to keep players engaged. The Mixed sections are fun. You never know what kind of question will pop up. Addition? Subtraction? Will you be given the sum and asked for the addends or vice versa? If that’s not exciting enough, the quizzes are wrapped up in a quest. Players start as farmers but as they solve and score points, they move up to king status. On Apple devices, the free version has addition and subtraction; the full version ($3.99) includes multiplication, division, geometry and other functions.
DEVICE: Apple; Android
SOURCE: iTunes (free); Google Play ($3.49)
RATING: 9+; Everyone
Memrise is great for middle and high school students wanting to explore new languages. It’s also useful for those looking to stay vocab-fresh in the languages they already study or know. The app assists with Chinese, Arabic, French and more — sounding and spelling out new words and phrases that help users with memory retention. Short videos of native speakers are especially powerful. Students hear various pronunciations of the terms they are learning, which increases their comprehension. The free version offers words, videos and reviews. The Pro version provides additional features for tackling tricky words and improving listening skills.
DEVICE: Apple; Android
SOURCE: iTunes; Google Play (free)
RATING: 4+; Everyone