Richard Byrne: Free Technology for Teachers

First of all, I did not even know this site existed until this course! I am ecstatic! I decided to explore the iPad Apps for School tab, specifically apps for elementary school, and I am so glad I did. Moving up to 5th grade next year has me feeling a little anxious. When I first opened this tab, a free app called Ocean Science came up. This was a perfect place to start, since one of the units in science is on Oceans. The app covers 7 Principles of Ocean science and even if I just use my iPad to show the class, I think it will be a fantastic addition to our unit. From there, it suggested a few other apps I might like at the bottom of the page, and they too fit right in with a 5th grade science unit on the Human Body. One of them allows the students to take a virtual tour inside bones, called Powers of Minus Ten: Bones. Another app, called Virtual Heart, allows you to view the inside and outside workings of the human heart. Again, these would be excellent additions to my science curriculum. The final app I explored is by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called Solve the Outbreak. It challenges students to research the data they are given about a disease and determine what disease it is. This could easily fit into science or health, and would certainly me more engaging that reading a textbook. I can't wait to try these with my students next year!

 Here are the links for those 4 apps:
 Ocean Science
 Virtual Heart 
 Powers of Minus Ten: Bones
 Solve the Outbreak