Math App Saturday (#1, Number Line)

Ever consider the educational possibilities for an iTouch or iPhone? Using educational apps?

A good friend is set to begin teaching 3rd grade this fall. The district received a grant, enabling every third grade student to have an iTouch. She (and I) are looking for apps to promote skills practice and concept development in math. She'll be using them in her classroom. I'll be giving them to my student when we're sitting at an appointment or standing in line at the grocery store. Over time I will post apps that appeal to a variety of ages and ability levels. I'm less interested in drill/flashcard/traditional "story problem" material than I am in games and activities that present skill practice and/or concept development in a unique (fun!) way.

As long as I continue to find quality apps, I'll post a couple new links each Saturday, usually by math topic.

I'd love your help! Please comment with names of your favorites; I'm looking for FREE or very inexpensive apps. Many free apps seem to be slowly adding advertisements, although I haven't found it to be a major problem. Yet.

Let's begin with two number line apps (at posting they are both FREE):

Number Line
Player drags circles containing a fraction, decimal or percent onto the number line in order from lowest to highest. Here's a demo.






Pearl Diver

I listed this earlier this week, but want to mention it again.  I've played it several times since then and marvel at it's design.

In this game, available on the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch (or play online) the "pearl diver" must swim to the bottom of the sea, while avoiding electronic eels. The "sea" is a number line with increasing levels of difficulty. I played with numberlines that included: 1-10, negative to positive numbers, fractions, etc. One time I made it to the sixth level or so (my excuse is that I was interrupted by a little helper!) and could barely figure out the mixed fractions fast enough to survive. My 7yo enjoys the first several levels; he isn't ready for the more difficult problems. He loves the "cutting Sushi" activity between levels. Players cut Sushi into fractional parts and are rewarded points based on how close they get to the target. Very fun, interesting game for numberline skills practice and development of number sense. [Note: you can play online -OR- download for iPod]