Simple Physics
A Challenging game for budding engineers
APP DETAILS
Developer – Jundro, LLC
Age Range - 9 years +
Subject – Physics
Skill – Language Skills
Rating – 82/100
Price – £1.49 / $1.99)
App Store Link – http://geni.us/3xF
Play Store Link – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andrewgarrison.simplephysics&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEwMiwiY29tLmFuZHJld2dhcnJpc29uLnNpbXBsZXBoeXNpY3MiXQ..
Amazon Store - http://geni.us/JFS
Windows Store Link – http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/simplephysics/7aa463ca-2787-489e-ad49-494b419944e4
App Review
If you have a budding engineer in your house/class then this could be a useful app for them. Simple Physics teaches children how structures work by allowing them to create their own. Within the app they have the opportunity to construct fairly straightforward through to quite complex bulidings. The app uses realistic physics so if the structure is not built with solid supports it will not stay up.
Children design their structures in the blueprint editor. This is fairly easy to use. They can zoom in and out of their design by pinching the screen and can also pan across it using a two finger drag. Errors can be easily corrected by tapping the undo button.
Once they are happy with the look of their structure, children then have to test it. Parts that are under too much strain will break and it is back to the drawing board. Children can perform a couple of tests to try and pinpoint exactly where the difficulties lie. For example, there is a finger test which allows them to grab a support and pull it in any direction to see how it will react. They can also create explosions anywhere on screen by toggling the explosion button in the top left of the screen.
All of this can be viewed in slow motion using the handy slo-mo feature. Apart from being fun to watch your design falling apart in slow motion, this has the benefit of enabling users to get a really good look at what is happening.
Although the app is called Simple Physics is it really anything but. There is so much going on here that the opportunities for learning are vast. Best of all, it is presented in a way that children will not even realise that they are learning.
Simple Physics is available on Apple, Android and Windows but only the iOS version is currently free.
Peter
Educational App Advice
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