App Roundup

5 New Apps for Tackling Hard Science

A monthly showcase of the latest mobile apps for educators and students. This month's roundup features a selection of apps to help students master the sciences.

• By Stephen Noonoo
• 06/12/12

• Zonkey Interactive introduces Science Lab, an app for kids aged 5 to 12 to perform science experiments to learn basic principles, such as weight, liquids, gas, heat, pendulum, colors, electricity, sound, and magnets. Users perform one of nine experiments, each with an individual theme and three difficulty levels. $1.99; iPad.
• Monkey in the Middle Apps launches Middle School Science 8th Grade. While flying a monkey through space and avoiding asteroids, students answer questions on middle school science topics. Teachers can track progress for an entire classroom using either score emails or web-based reports. Topics have been chosen to match common textbooks and core standards. Each quiz also includes review notes and links to online tutorials and videos. The free version includes four quizzes: matter, geology, astronomy, and weather. Free; iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad.
• Dan Russell-Pinson has released Monster Physics 1.0, a building app that lets users build and operate a car, crane, rocket ship, plane, helicopter, tank, and more. Players connect parts together by welding them, drawing a rope or chain between them with their fingers, or using special dynamic joints to bring them to life. Once an invention is created, the app will render it with its built-in physics engine and let the player actually operate their creation in real time. A separate "learn section" introduces players to basic physics concepts such as friction, force, mass, acceleration, and more. $0.99; iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad.
• WagMob releases new calculators designed for mobile devices. Currently, calculators are available for math, chemistry and physics, subjects that require learning hundreds of different formulas. The apps were built to compliment the company's existing math, chemistry, and physics reference apps. $1.99; iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
• TestTubeGames releases Agent Higgs 1.0, a new puzzle game for iOS devices designed to give players a background in particle physics. The game assumes no prior knowledge and is accessible for all players. In the game, the player moves pieces that are the particles of the Standard Model: electrons, neutrinos, muons, and more. The rules of the game are based on the fundamental physical forces. $0.99; iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.