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Free back to school apps for iPhone

James Thornton

James Thornton

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Sorry kids, but the golden summer is drawing to a close and it’s almost time to head back to the miserable world of the education system. I’m so glad I’m not you. Don’t be too despondent though because there are ways you can lift the doom of heading back through those gates of hell once more.

If you’ve got an iPhone or iPod touch then you’ve got access to a whole bunch of apps that’ll make the next year at school or college that little bit more bearable. Heck, you might even start enjoying it (actually, don’t quote me on that). Here’s a selection of essential free apps to help you with all subjects and to get you through the rigors of the school day.You can also check out the Back to School section of the App Store for other inspirational applications.

Math

Primary: Basic Math – Teaches under 12s addition, subtraction, multiplication and division through a series of drills. The app includes a report card to keep track of performance, along with an on-board calculator with sound effects.

Secondary: Equation Genius – In a muddle over your equations? This app will help you to solve first, second and third degree equations, as well as helping you discover unknown variables.

College: CT Math Prep Practice Test Questions – Prepares you for your final exams by offering simulations of actual tests. Perfect answers to each question are provided, along with a detailed rationale explaining the workings out.

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Science

Primary: Basic Science Quiz Lite: Teaches a range of science disciplines through a series of multiple choice questions. Topics include digestion of food, classification of living things, water, and the Sun.

Secondary: Experimenter: Guess what kids? Science can be fun, as this awesome app proves. Experimenter explains some awesome experiments you can perform at home that will help you discover more about science- and make a big mess.

College: Periodic Lite: A periodic table is an essential for many science degrees, and here’s one you can carry around with you at all times. Periodic Lite includes info such as atomic weight, electron configuration, melting point and ionic radius.

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English

Primary: SpellingMagic – Teaches children how to spell words through fun games. Games include balloon popping, hangman, spelling tests and word spinning.

Secondary: iBooks – Actually, this one is a must-have for all levels of education. Downloading eBooks with iBooks will allow you to carry your course books around with you in your pocket rather than lugging them in your satchel.

College: Advanced English Dictionary and Thesaurus – The perfect companion for any literary student, this dictionary from WordNet boasts almost 140,00 entries, covering 1.4 million words. Synonyms, antonyms, similar and related words are all provided.

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Languages

Primary: Feed Me! – Designed to expose kids to other languages at an early age, Feed Me! is a fun word game starring a monster who teaches numbers, colors and shapes and more. There are editions for Spanish, French, Japanese, German, Italian and more.

Secondary: Free Translator – This free, multi-language translator uses Google Translate to help you translate words and phrases from a range of different languages. You can flick between source and target languages with the press of a button.

College: Classics2Go(Spanish) – A must for anyone studying Spanish literature, Classics2Go contains six classic Spanish texts: Don Quixote (volumes one and two), Gesta de Mio Cid, Lazarillo de Tormes, Platero y Yo, and Rimas.

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Geography

Primary: GeoBlox Lite – Helps kids explore the World through an interactive game. The game involves helping the main character, Ella, discover famous landmarks, pinpoint the location of certain animals and answer trivia questions.

Secondary: Google Earth – An obvious, yet essential reference tool for any geography student, Google Earth gives you instant access to maps of the whole planet, along with geo-located Wikipedia articles for a huge range of places.

College: geotimescale – A handy reference to the geologic time scale of the Earth’s history. The app provides clear, charts outlining the dates of all the eons, eras, periods, epochs and ages. Each view is selectable with the tap of a button.

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History

Primary: Turkey Time Lite – Give your kids an early introduction to American history with this fun game. The idea is to complete the thanksgiving-related puzzles, quizzes and riddles. Presented by a turkey and a talking Pilgrim character, it’s a fun way for little ones to learn.

Secondary: iHeritage Guide – Want to know the history of your local area? iHeritage Guide includes information about your nearest museum, buildings of significance, and events that took place where you are. Covers the USA only at the moment.

College: History: Maps of World – If you’re studying World history then you can’t afford to be without this one on your iPhone. The application boasts a large collection of ancient maps from across the planet and is searchable by keyword.

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Other useful school tools

Best Alarm Clock Free – Make the process of getting up for school more fun with this popular app. Best Alarm Clock includes a range of great tones, multiple snooze settings and an attractive LCD display. It will even tell you the local temperature and weather forecast when you wake up!

Evernote – A superb note-taking app that allows you to record written notes, photos and links on your iPhone then access them from any computer whenever you like. You can even record and save lectures using the built-in voice recorder, so you need never pay attention in class again!

Nimbuzz – If you’re studying away from home, then Nimbuzz is the perfect tool to stay in touch with the folks back there. It pulls together all your instant messaging and social networking contacts and allows you to make cheap international calls using its NimbuzzOut VOIP service.

Others

James Thornton

James Thornton

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