Science App Review;

Define…Discover…Dream…Design…Deliver…Debrief…

We were tasked with finding a helpful app that would accelerate our learning in the lab, review it and post about it. Some questions that could help with reviewing the app are…

• Will it help me in my Science 9 class? Will it help others?
• Is it easy to use? How do you use it?
• How does it help a student learn/discover more about Science?
• What subject in Science does it teach you about? What style of learning does it use?
• Is it costly, and is it available for all devices?
• Does it require Wifi to use?
• Etc…?

After consideration a problem that I think would, if solved, make it a lot easier for a student to understand the subject is being able to use the information from science class (In this case Chemistry) and use it/answer questions about it without being graded and getting the answers. Which is normally hard to do, and you have to google it and try to find an online quiz, that ends up wanting your facebook information. However I also think it’s important to have an aspect of entertainment when studying, to help keep your mind active and aware when studying, and that can be difficult too, because usually it’s either one or the other. So I’m going to review two apps; Trendy Chem and ChemCrafter. They are both free on the app store, and Trendy Chem is also available by Google Play.

I had hoped when I started this project that I would be able to find an app that would engage all the parts of the mind in an active study, allowing a student to study more thoroughly and efficiently. I wasn’t able to find one app that did that but these two worked wonderfully together, and I think they will help me and many others  in the future.

Trendy Chem is Chemistry App that lets users learn and review the basics of chemistry by offering questions and study cards on the different parts of the elements as well as the periodic table. It also has a build mode where you can test your ability to construct correct atoms, a periodic trend section where you can identify and rank the elements based on different properties. Trendy Chem has a tutorial for each section that you havent opened before, and is very easy to use. Trendy Chem can be customized by level of difficulty, offers study flash cards, and if you are having difficulties it has all the tutorials for the app in a handy-dandy little section. It also includes helpful tools, such as calculator and a colour-coded by family periodic table that are both constantly available for you whiles your are using the app. I would give the app  4.5/5 as a rating.

 ChemCrafter is a chemistry app that lets users experiment and create with the elements. It is an actual game where you earn points by creating the experiments. As you start , it has tutorials for you to use, and you buy (with game money) different elements to mix. As you do more experiments, you open up higher level and more reactive elements to experiment with. The game shows you the reaction the elements have together, if , together, they off put a light/gas/heat, what/if you created something, and how much energy you created with the reaction. At certain intervals, it also offers fun facts about the current elements. It is safe for all ages and a fun way to learn about chemical reactions. I would give the app a 4/5 as a rating.

Both apps are effective, without in-app extra costs, and are a fun and helpful way to learn and experiment with science. I think both of these apps would have helped me during our chemistry unit, because Trendy Chem could have been used for practicing/studying/reviewing for chemistry, while ChemCrafter would have been great for comparing the supposed reaction with what we achieved during classroom experiments. I would recommend both apps for students to use because they are great tools to have, don’t need wifi (so you can study anywhere!) and are completely free which makes them that much more desirable.

I think these two apps together achieved what my dream was… and that was to create a fun but incredibly helpful study session that doesn’t rely on what you already know, but what is engaging and helpful for all levels of knowledge, making it that much more interesting and efficient to study. I hope that there is somewhere one app that could do what these two do together, but I haven’t yet discovered if there is one.