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I have a love/hate relationship with chemistry. My content focus is biology, so I have had to accept the fact that chemistry is a huge part of biology, and really all of our lives. While it is incredibly interesting, it can also be insanely complicated. That's why when I first saw the video for this app, I knew I had to check it out. The Periodic Table app makes chemistry way cooler, and certainly much better than the basic print outs students get from their teacher or the one in the back of their textbook. This app lets students explore elements in greater depth, and has several settings: basic, intermediate, and advanced. You can also view various trends in the periodic table such as density, atomic radius, and electronegativity. When I had to take my inorganic chemistry classes, we had to memorize the trends in the periodic table, and this app would have made things a whole lot easier.
As stated in the video, you can also see practical applications of the elements. I know that many students often ask, "Why do I need to know this?" Especially when it comes to topics like math and science. This gives them a way to see why its important to know about some of these elements and how they factor into our every day lives. Some students may find it a bit confusing, which is why I would recommend starting on the "basic" setting first, especially for younger students. Advanced classes would definitely benefit from the advanced setting. |
Curiosity is an app that includes hundreds of digest articles on almost any subject you can imagine. Think of it as the magazine section of the library, except 1000 times cooler and 1000 times easier to use. Curiosity gives you access to tons of articles that include engaging pictures and videos within the article itself.
Out of curiosity (pun definitely intended) I checked out some of the science articles by choosing to arrange the articles by subject. An article about antimatter caught my eye, and within the article there were several videos including one from the Discovery channel about how scientists actually create antimatter. What drew me in were all the fantastic pictures, links, and of course videos. There's an endless supply of engaging material within the Curiosity app. Rather than ask, "how can this be used in the classroom?" I think the better question would be, "How can this NOT be used in the classroom!?" I can see infinite possibilities for this app. Specifically for science, I know how important it is to stay caught on up the latest discoveries and scientific journals. Things change constantly, so what we think is correct one day may soon be proven to be not so correct. In the future, I would love to incorporate a project where students would have to create an article similar to those in Curiosity while USING curiosity. |
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I've always loved info-graphics. I think they are a fun way to relay information in an engaging and exciting format. I also think they're pretty fun to make, since instead of just presenting information in a paper, you can have a bit of creativity in designing the look of the info-graphic. It's a paper and a poster combined in an easy to access format!
The app is very user friendly, and is available for iPad or through any internet browser via their website. They have multiple templates not only for creating info-graphics but also posters, presentations, and reports. Be cautious though, as some do cost money, but there are plenty of free templates available! Students can create an "about me" page, or a report on practically anything. Another downside is that you can only save info-graphics as an image unless you pay for another format, but this usually isn't a huge problem as students can post it on a website, document, or e-mail it. In the science classroom, this could be extremely useful for presenting a research topic. Students would be allowed to pick a topic that related to the current unit, such as GMOs in a unit about genetics, and create a helpful and informative info-graphic that is exciting and engaging! What's so great about this is you can also award points for creativity and professionalism. Even students not interested in science can have fun creating an info-graphic. |
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