The iPad is a great tool for home learning; it offers a window onto a world of wonders that are not always available in the classroom. Science has been brought to life through an incredible number of apps which have turned learning about the world in which we live more like fun than educational. The apps that have been developed for the iPad in particular offer more than the apps developed for smartphones, and the large screen is just perfect for exploring the galaxy with.
Frog Dissection
This app certainly takes the ‘yuck’ out of the science lab. No one is going to run away in tears from this little frog. On the screen you have a frog, chloroformed to oblivion and spread eagled on your lab table ready for dissection. You have all of the dissection tools at your disposal, and there is a helpful voice over explaining just what you need to do to get Mr Frog’s insides onto his outside. Everything operates in real time and once you have removed the body parts they can be looked at in glorious detail.
3D Solar System Model
This is a surprisingly powerful little app which is so easy to use the kids will love it. The app has a beautifully rendered 3D solar system, which you can navigate your way through. You can get up close to all of the planets and discover lots about them such as the trajectories they follow and how they are structured. This is one of those apps that you will just love to look at, and the more you look the more you learn until you become something of an expert on the topic of the solar system yourself.
Cell and Cell Structure
This is the perfect app to download when the kids start learning about biology. The stunning 2D and 3D graphics will teach them more about cells and the way that they work than just about any lecture they could sit through. They will learn about different cells, how they are structured what their functions are and basically their whole life cycle. This is one app that makes the subject of biology fun and brings it to life in a fun and interactive way.
Science Glossary
It is easy to get all of the different scientific terms mixed up, so what you need is a comprehensive glossary of all of those terms all wrapped up into a neat little app that you can carry with you wherever you go, et voila here it is. Here you will find the meanings of all of the terms that get you confused along with small articles and biographies to tie everything together neatly.
The Periodic Table
No list of science apps would be complete without at least one periodic table app. Not only do you get the table you also get to discover information about each of the elements that are shown on it including atomic numbers, chemical symbols, classification and all kinds of useful information.
We would like to express our thanks to Harrison Drew for contributing to this article, Harrison currently works as a junior research scientist at a leading polymer analysis laboratory.