My Favorite Math iPad Apps

MATHBOARD

This app is great for integer practice.  I have the free version which is only adding and it's ok for me so far because adding/subtracting integers is where they need the most practice.  I've used it with kids and they really enjoy it.  

I only had one iPad so I used it as an activity during study hall for times when I needed to give a kid something to do.  I set it up with a timer and the goal was to get as many right during that time as possible.  To start it out I played and then the kids' goal was to try to beat my score or see who could get the closest.  If you are in a class with a set of iPads it would be a great thing to do as a do now every now and then or to fill some extra time when needed.  It's quick and gives the kids instant feedback which they respond really well to.

 GEOBOARD

This one is fairly self explanatory, it's a geoboard.  There are two pegboards in the app, one that is 5x5 and one that is 15x10.  There are 8 different colored rubber bands and you can choose to color in the shapes once you draw them.  I feel like there's a little more you could do with this than you could with an actual geoboard which is cool.

 SKETCH EXPLORER

This is an interesting one that would be great as either a projection or on student iPads.  It lets you open files that were created with Geometer's Sketchpad.  It isn't the actual program though so you can't create sketches.  If you go on Sketch Exchange though there are tons of things available for download that would be great to use as an investigation type activity. 

COMMON CORE STANDARDS

This app is where I go to look at the new standards.  It has math & language arts and presents them in a easy to read way and lets you just look at the parts that you want to see.

QUICK GRAPH

This one is like a graphing calculator in that it graphs functions, but it does each one in a different color which I like.  It makes it easy to tell which is which.  There is also an option to graph in 2D or 3D coordinate planes.

These next apps are all games.  My disclaimer with game apps is that I'm very picky in choosing ones to actually use.  There are tons of apps that claim to be math games.  I'm not crazy about the types that have you answer a math question and then play if you get it right.  I look for games that actually involve math in the game play.  
Last year I only had one iPad in my classroom so it was difficult to have kids play games really because it was only one at a time and I didn't want fighting.  The way that I ended up doing it was during the study hall period that they had.  I would choose a "Game of the Day" and post it on the board and then they would sign up to play when they came in.  Each kid got to play a level or until they lost and we kept track of the high scores on the board.  They enjoyed playing to try to beat each other scores.  An added bonus was that they came into the period early so that they could sign up to play and they behaved because I would erase their name if they didn't.

If you had a class set of iPads then you clearly have more options or even if you have a couple you could set up stations and have one of them be a "game station" or something like that.

PICK-A-PATH

I just came across this one and I'm in love with it.  It's created by NCTM and unlike many of the games, it's amazing for older kids.  This one is easier to explain with a screenshot:

The goal is to choose a path that goes from the top to the bottom and accomplishes the goal in the top right corner.  Your score changes according to the path you take.  So in the one on the left the goal is to start with 0 and just get the highest number possible.  This one only has addition, but other include all operations.  The one on the right starts with one and the goal is to actually create a specific number.  There are so many different variations that you really need to download this one and try it out yourself. There are 7 levels and they get seriously challenging.

• Level 1: Adding, subtracting, multiplying & dividing to get the highest number possible
• Level 2: Adding, subtracting, multiplying & dividing to get a target number
• Level 3: Adding, subtracting, multiplying & dividing 10's
• Level 4: Fractions
• Level 5: Measurement (with all mixed units)
• Level 6: Fractions & Decimals mixed together
• Level 7: Exponents

Even if you don't have an iPad I think that these are all fantastic puzzles to even print out and have kids work on.  They will be more difficult without the instant feedback, but would still be great.  I'm hoping that NCTM comes out with more because this is fantastic.

 DEEP SEA DUEL

This game another one made by NCTM and this is one that has you play against a computer character Okta the octupus.  There are many settings that change the difficulty of the game so you can differentiate easily.  It looks like this:

The goal here is to choose three card that have a sum of 15.  Players choose cards one at a time, so I picked 5 then Okta picked 1 and so on.  We keep going until one player has three cards in their possession that add up to 15 or all the cards are gone.  There is a lot of strategy needed for this one.  

What is also cool though, is that you could totally play this game without an iPad and just using playing cards and have two kids play against each other. 

 FACTOR SAMURAI

My kids LOVED this one.  It's like fruit ninja but with numbers.  They need to chop the composite numbers and not the prime numbers.  If you miss a number that is factorable, it is deducted from your score.  What's also cool is let's say 27 comes up...you chop it and get 9 and 3.  Since 9 is still factorable you would need to chop that one as well.  Awesome game to practice prime/composite numbers.  I tried to get a screenshot of this game but it moves too fast to really tell what's going on.

 SUSHI MONSTER

Of the ones on this list, this one is probably the most easiest but I feel like it could still be useful.  It has a Sushi Monster in the middle with a table all around it. 

The monster gives a target number and you have to choose the sushi pieces that have a product of that number.  The monster eats it and then goes on to the next number.  There is are levels for addition and multiplication and they get increasingly more difficult.  Good to practice facts.