A list of apps on the two Science Dept. iPad sets. #1 is in McMahon’s room, #2 in Freeman’s. The descriptions are deliberately concise – click the links to see a longer description [usually full of many gratuitous exclamation points]
8th Grade set – apps list
Here is a list of the apps that are on the 8th grade set, along with a short description and a link to the full description of what the app does. Many of these apps are also on the 6th and 7th grade sets.
Click on the name – that should take you to a fuller description of the app, usually accompanied by a plethora of gratuitous exclamation points.
As always, please let us know if there is something that isn’t working here!
| Category | Name/Link | Description | |
| Art | NASA Earth as Art | The vantage point of space has provided new perspectives on Earth. This app celebrates Earth’s aesthetic beauty. Features stunning images of Earth from several satellites. Sensors on these satellites can measure light outside of the visible range, so the images show more than what is visible to the naked eye. Also features time-lapse satellite images of locations on Earth undergoing significant change over decades, linking to NASA’s Earth Observatory website. The app has a thumbnail gallery of the images as well as an interactive directory with images organized by geographic region. Each image has a brief caption and the ability to enlarge each scene. The beauty of Earth is clear, and the artistry ranges from the surreal to the sublime. Earth as art – enjoy the gallery. | |
| Art | Paper by Fifty-Three | Sketches, diagram, illustrate, note, draw – and share them. Just pick up a tool and instantly begin to Sketch, Write, Draw, Outline and Color. Draw comes free with Paper. REWIND™ – Use two fingers to Rewind to any previous point in time without leaving your flow. | |
| Art | SketchBook Express | Use professional-grade tools and brushes to create doodles, quick sketches or artwork on-the-go. Use professional-grade tools and brushes to create doodles, quick sketches or artwork on-the-go. Multitouch, 3 layers, can export to Photo Album | |
| Art | Sumo Paint | Just pick up one of the pre-sets style and start instantly sketching and drawing with unique touch and style. Play around with the one of a kind symmetry and gravity tools and see how Sumo Paint gets your creativity flying. | |
| English | iThesaurus plus | Over 140,000 words – synonyms and antonyms. | |
| English | Merriam-Webster Dictionary | NOT just a dictionary – offers voice search [to let you look up a word without having to spell it] along with synonyms and antonyms, example sentences, Quick Definitions, Word of the Day, Favorites, and more. | |
| English | SpellingCity | VocabularySpellingCity is a fun way to learn spelling and vocabulary words by playing engaging learning games using any word list. The free app includes ten of our most popular word lists and eight of our most popular learning games and activities. | |
| History | 100 History Changers | 100 people who changed the way we we live | |
| History | Flags and Capitals | Slide through a collection of the world’s flags with just a flick of the finger. Select a flag and see the capital city on a map, and how far away you are. Wikipedia info is just a touch away. | |
| History | LineTime: presidents Edition | The lineTime apps have been pulled from the VPP program, and cannot be updated, nor can additional copies be purchased. | |
| History | This Day in History Free | Find out what happened on this day throughout history | |
| History | Today in History iPad Edition | Over 100,000 events. This Day’s events, plus notable figures that were born/died that day, holidays/observances. Several Wikipedia links per entry. | |
| History | WORLD BOOK – This Day in History | Interactive multimedia calendar – displays historical events for the current day or any selected day, along with related media. Hear the national anthems of countries on the day they became a nation, listen to presidents’ speeches on the anniversaries of their inaugurations, and play sound clips from famous artists on their birthdays. | |
| Language | Basic Spansh – Vocabulary | More than 1,000 words and phrases, Practice Reading Skills, Practice Speaking Skills | |
| Language | Duolingo | Learn a language completely free, without ads. You have fun while you learn, leveling up and competing with friends. You have the opportunity to translate real-world texts in the language you are learning, and in doing so, help us translate the Web into other languages. | |
| Language | French by living language | FREE lessons. Goes beyond the basic phrasebook. We offer a complete course that will teach you how to speak French right from the start using essential words and phrases. | |
| Language | Spanish by living language | Start learning Spanish right away with FREE lessons. The experts at Living Language take you beyond the basic phrasebook. We offer a complete course that will teach you how to speak Spanish right from the start using essential words and phrases. | |
| Language | Spanish English Dictionary and Translator LITE | More than 80,000 translation pairs * Integrated Google/Bing Translate * Phrases & Synonyms [See link for complete list] | |
| Math | Calculator Pro | Two modes are available: Standard, or go advanced in Scientific. Degrees and Radians calculations, History Bar: access and check your most recent entries, Memory buttons to help you out with complex calculations, Copy and paste numbers from or into display. Accidentally input the wrong number? Just swipe with your finger to edit it | |
| Math | HMH Fuse: Algebra I | Gives every student a personalized learning experience. Video tutorials, StepReveal – guide students through step-by-step examples, homework help, quizzes, tips, hints, many integrated features to teach, review, and assess all concepts. Other features: students show their scratch pad work for individual questions, student response system (clickers), and Graph It! examples permits students to explore the example conceptually. Built-in tools Algebra Tiles, Linear Explorer, Quadratic Explorer, a graphing calculator, text and audio note-taking, scratchpad, and a student response system for instant learner feedback. | |
| Math | HMH Fuse: Algebra II | ||
| Math | HMH Fuse: Geometry | ||
| Math | Jumbo Calculator | Basic 4 function. Simple gestures for backspace (swipe the calculator screen) and copy & paste (double tap). | |
| MDS | Meraki Systems Manager | MDS network thing. | |
| Music | GarageBand | NOT ON ALL DEVICES B/C APPLE CHANGED THE APP. A full-featured recording studio. Play your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch like a musical instrument. Record your voice using the built-in microphone and apply fun sound effects. Use the Sampler to create an instrument from sounds you record, then play them on a keyboard. Smart Instruments – computer assisted playing.Jam Session – play or record live over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth with up to three of your friends. The bandleader automatically collects everyone’s recordings so they can be mixed as a song and shared. Up 32 tracks using Touch Instruments, audio recordings, and loops. Share your songs via Email | |
| NASA | NASA App HD | Come explore with NASA and discover the latest images, videos, mission information, news, feature stories, tweets, NASA TV and featured content | |
| Science | Building Atom, ions, and Isotopes | Build atoms, ions, and isotopes by selecting appropriate numbers of protons, neutrons, and electrons. For reference, this app also includes atomic theory information and a periodic table that is interactive in the iPad version. Lite version only includes Build an Atom and Atomic Theory History Features | |
| Science | NASA Science: A Journey of Discovery | Brings the latest information from NASA’s Science Missions, including the spacecraft, their instruments, the data, and what we are learning about the questions we seek to answer. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and the nation’s science community use space observatories to conduct scientific studies of the Earth from space to visit and return samples from other bodies in the solar system, and to peer out into our Galaxy and beyond. | |
| Science | NASA Visualization Explorer | NASA SCIENCE: REVEALED! The coolest way to get stories about advanced space-based research delivered right to your iPad. A direct connection to NASA’s extraordinary fleet of research spacecraft, presents cutting edge research stories in an engaging and exciting format. See the Earth as you’ve never seen it before; travel to places otherwise unavailable to even the most intrepid explorers! New stories every week! | |
| Science | Science360 | National Science Foundation – provides easy access to engaging science and engineering images and video from around the globe and a news feed featuring breaking news from NSF-funded institutions. Content is either produced by NSF or gathered from scientists, colleges and universities, and NSF science and engineering centers. | |
| Textbook | McGraw-Hill K-12 ConnectED | textbook app | |
| Textbook | Pearson eText | Access textbooks | |
| Textbook | Pearson eText for Schools | Access textbooks | |
| Theology | Catholic New American Bible | Bookmark verses by touching a verse. Copy multiple verses. Highlight verses. Hypertext footnotes/endnotes/references. Daily Readings. History of Last 50 Verses Visited | |
| Theology | iMassExplained | Helps people understand what the Mass is all about. Emphasizes the people’s parts at Mass. Has the words of the Mass, explanations of what is changing, information to deepen your understanding of what we do at Mass and why, and brief reflections of the Popes on the importance of the Mass and what it can mean for your everyday life. Includes 9 brief reflections on the meaning of the Mass in our lives from John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Leo XIII. | |
| Theology | Quandary | As the Captain of a new human settlement on Planet Braxos, shape the future of a new civilization while developing ethical reasoning skills. The game aims to develop skills that help children recognize ethical issues and deal with ethical situations in their own lives. • Critical thinking • Perspective-taking • Decision-making • Problem solving • Reading • Communication • Collaboration • Global awareness At the dawn of a new society…how will you decide? | |
| Theology | The Pope App HD | An app focused on the Pope. Follow his events live, set up alerts notifying you when papal events begin. Access all official papal-related content. See key areas of the Vatican through webcams in St. Peter’s Square. | |
| Tools | Adobe Reader | pdf Reader – does some things that the other apps don’t. It’s good to have options! | |
| Tools | Air Disk Free | Allows file sharing with the wireless connection. Good for getting docs off iPad onto teacher computer. | |
| Tools | Air Transfer | Useful for transferring from desktop to iPad with just single drag&drop. It moves whatever type of file, [supposedly] | |
| Tools | BrainPOP Featured movie | Watch a different animated movie every day, then test your new knowledge with an interactive quiz. | |
| Tools | Chrome | Web Browser | |
| Tools | Edmodo | Provides safe and easy way for teachers and students to engage and collaborate. Uses include Secure classroom discussions, Posting assignments, Gradebook tracking, File sharing and uploading. Key Features : Classroom activity feed, Student progress tracker, Educational resource library, Professional learning networks | |
| Tools | Educreations Interactive Whiteboard | A recordable whiteboard – as simple as touching, tapping and talking. With voice recording, realistic digital ink, photos and text, and simple sharing through email, Facebook or Twitter, broadcast your ideas from anywhere. Can post on educreations.com. Record video or audio, draw, add text, animate images by dragging them around while recording. Can choose who can view lessons on educreations.com. Can also upload to web or blog. | |
| Tools | Flashcards* | Easy-to-use studying application with material for any class or standardized test. | |
| Tools | Flashcards+ | Can access millions of eternal decks. Can sync decks across devices with Flashcloud. Can also share decks with friends. Human quality voice synthesis. Practice your pronunciation and retain more by listening to cards. No Ads. Integrated with Quizlet and Course Hero. Auto-Play card audio by double clicking the speaker icon. Keep track of the cards you know by checking/unchecking them and only studying the ones you know or don’t know. Filter decks to search for a specific card. | |
| Tools | Google Drive | File Storage in the Cloud AND Edit and create documents and spreadsheets with Docs and Sheets. Can also view Google presentations, and upload pix/videos from device. | |
| Tools | Google Earth | Fly around the planetr. Browse layers including roads, borders, places, photos and more. Visit the Earth Gallery to find exciting maps such as real-time earthquakes, planes in flight, hiking trails, city tours…. Integrated Google Maps Street View – explore the world at street level. Tour Guide – discover exciting new places to explore. Fly through complete 3D recreations of select cities, [San Francisco, Boston, Rome, others] with every building modeled in 3D. | |
| Tools | iBooks | Can open ePub, PDF, and other file formats | |
| Tools | Inkflow: Visual notebook | Visual Thinkers Rejoice! Full featured note-taking & sketching app. Works like a word-processor for visual thinking. Capture ideas easily, then arrange and reorganize them with your fingers. FULL RESOLUTION ZOOM; TEXT, PHOTOS, and PAPER BACKGROUNDS; EASILY CREATE and SHARE → export to PDF, high-resolution JPEG, and share. The Basic Edition comes with the Fountain Pen with black ink, photos, and a standard set of 5 popular fonts for text. Books max out at 20 pages each, but you can create as many as you like. | |
| Tools | Inspiration Maps | Build diagrams, maps and organizers. Brainstorm, plan, organize and build thinking skills. With a single tap, turn your diagram into an outline that can be customized and expanded upon, then exported to a writing app. Can record audio, attach it to any symbol. Use pix from Camera Roll or camera. | |
| Tools | iTunes U | Free courses in a wide array of subjects from leading universities and other schools. See all assignments/updates in one place. Check off assignments as completed. Take notes/highlight text in iBooks, see them consolidated for easy reviewing. Take course notes in class, or while playing audio or video lectures. Access course materials. | |
| Tools | Keynote | Presentation software – text, images, charts, tables, and shapes with just a few taps. Highlight your data with stunning interactive bar, column, scatter, and bubble charts. If iCloud is setup, presentations are auto-backedup, and can tehn be edited and viewed in the iCloud account [iCloud.com] | |
| Tools | Khan Academy | Over 4,200 videos on a variety of subjects – including K-12 math, biology, chemistry, physics, and even the humanities with playlists on finance and history. | |
| Tools | myHomework Student Planner | Student planner – Track your classes, homework, tests and assignments. Beautiful calendar display [Supports time, block and period-based schedules] | |
| Tools | NASA TV | Brings live and on-demand TV programming to your iPhone or iPod Touch. Watch the latest NASA events unfold in real-time or select from a list of recently uploaded videos. | |
| Tools | Notability | Sketch, annotate, complete worksheets, keep a journal, jot notes, teach a class, make a presentation, write, illustrate. Click the link for more details – this thing does a LOT. | |
| Tools | Photon Flash Browser | Flash Browser with Whitelist – email tech to get a site whitelisted. | |
| Tools | PowerSchool for Students | Used by students to access grades | |
| Tools | Prezi | Create and present beautiful presentations Choose template, add text & images. Pinch to zoom on topics, retouch your prezis and adjust presentations on the move. Insert images from the web, your own library, or take a photo. Save your prezi from the app, it will be accessible online. Present from your iPad. Prezi stays synced with the online account. | |
| Tools | Quizzam! | Makes giving quizzes in the classroom fast and fun. Also great for study groups. Flexible, easy-to-use buzz-in app for classrooms • Easy setup and configuration for teachers: connect with your wireless network, create a passcode-protected Classroom, then choose your mode 1.Buzz In: Identifies the order in which students buzz in 2. Multiple Choice: Identifies which students answer correctly and sorts by speed of response • Monitor Participation: Teachers can monitor classroom participation to see when students have not answered or have left Quizzam! • Supports an unlimited number of students • All you need is the app and your device! | |
| Tools | TapTyping | iPhone/iPad Crash Course: quick overview ~ Beginner: primary keys (a-z) ~ Intermediate: Capitalization, punctuation, numbers ~ Advanced: difficult tapping patterns, complicated sentences and symbols ~ Special courses: Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland (chapters 1 & 2), US History, Inspirational Quotes, Romeo & Juliet | |
| Tools | Whiteboard Lite: Collaborative Drawing | Collaborate with friends and family with Whiteboard, the easy-to-use collaborative drawing app! Two users can create pictures together over local Wi-Fi or over the Internet. | |
| Tools | Wifi Photo Transfer | Access iPad photos from a computer. Just start the app and enter the displayed address into the address bar of your browser. | |
| Tools | Zamurai Mobile Whiteboard | Whiteboard collaboration solution, capture ideas and discussions once and access them anywhere, anytime. An MDS alum is involved with the company – we’re testing it out. | |
| Video | Animoto Video maker | Turn your camera roll into beautiful, pro-quality videos. Choose your music and photos and share your amazing videos with everyone! | |
| Video | iMovie | Shoot, edit, create Movies. Share via Camera Roll, Google Drive, Email |