Cube View • Visual Puzzles

Looking for a fun and challenging spatial relations puzzle game for your students to play on their iPads? Look no further than Cube View, which creates random configurations of blocks called buildings and challenges your students to figure out how many blocks are in each puzzle.

With features like sound and speech effects, your students will feel like you’re right in the middle of the action as they solve each puzzle. And positive reinforcement for correct answers, will help them feel a sense of accomplishment as they progress through the levels.

So why wait? Download Cube View today and start improving spatial relations puzzle-solving skills with our exciting and challenging game. With over two dozen puzzles there are plenty of activities for students. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to challenge your students and let them have fun as they learn about important math concepts such as surface area and volume!

Some research indicates that in addition to being educationally sound, this type of puzzle is also an excellent brain exercise that can improve visual perception, spatial relations and logical thinking skills. By analyzing the different configurations of blocks and determining the number of blocks in each puzzle, students will be training their brains to think critically and logically. Additionally, the visual aspects of the game help them learn to use spatial awareness and pattern recognition abilities, which can also improve overall cognitive function. With regular practice, students may find that they will be able to solve the puzzles faster and with greater accuracy, leading to a sense of accomplishment and improved mental agility. So not only is this app a great way to pass the time, it’s also a valuable tool for keeping your student’s brain sharp and healthy.

Our apps are available with a volume discount for educational institutions. Each app can be purchased worldwide exclusively through the AppleApp Store. Our apps are also available through Apple’s volume purchase program. Schools get a significant discount when purchasing multiple copies of any of these apps. Contact Apple Education for more information about the volume purchase program. Please visit Ventura Educational Systems’ website for more information about this and other iOS and tvOS apps for education.

Sign Language, Morse Code and Nautical Signal Flags – 3 Toolkits for Building Communication Skills in a Fun Way

I designed this app to be visually appealing and hope that it will introduce sign language in a fun and exciting way. The app presents all the letters of the English alphabet as well as the numbers from zero to twenty.The Sign Language Toolkit is an interactive learning tool and provides a way to get started using sign language. In the exploration mode users can press any key and see the how to sign the associated letter. Using the keyboard students can see how to sign spell any word. Switch to the number mode to learn how to sign numbers from zero to twenty.

Students who are learning sign language will find the quiz feature helpful. After pressing the question mark to start the quiz a word is randomly selected from the word list. The way to spell the word in sign language is shown. The object is for the student to recognize the gestures for the letters in the word and to type them on the keyboard.

Speech effects are provided so that when a letter is pressed on the keyboard it is pronounced aloud. This feature can optionally be turned on or off.

Special features make using the Sign Language Toolkit app fun:

1. Express yourself with this fun to use app.
2. Learn to communicate using sign language.
3. Practice spelling words with sign language.
4. Speech and sound effects.
5. Available for iPad iOS and Apple TV.

After designing the Sign Language Toolkit I wanted to explore other methods that are used for communicating. I decided to build an app to introduce the Morse Code. The app presents all the letters of the English alphabet as well as the numbers from zero to ten. Learning to use the Morse Code is an fun way to send secret messages to your friends. It is also a way for teachers to introduce the history of how electricity was first used to send messages. Learning about the Morse Code is important because it encourages them to experiment and gives them confidence to be creative. It also provides a historical perspective on a communication that was an important that helped in the expansion and settlement of the western parts of the United States.

The Morse Code Toolkit is an interactive learning tool for introducing the signalling system used in the middle part of the 19th century. Invented by Samuel Morse, the coding system is made up of sequences of dots and dashes. It is still used today by ham radio operators and others. When using the app In the exploration mode users can press any key and see the how to represent the associated letter in dots and dashes. Using the keyboard students can see how to spell a word using Morse Code. Switch to the number mode to learn how to represent numbers from zero to ten. Press any key in this mode and see how to represent the number using a series of dots and dashes.

Students who are learning Morse Code will find the quiz feature helpful. After pressing the question mark to start the quiz a word is randomly selected from the word list. The way to spell the word using Morse Code is shown. The object is for the student to recognize the dots and dashes for the letters in the word and to type them on the keyboard.

Speech effects are provided so that when a letter is pressed on the keyboard it is pronounced aloud and also played as an audible series of dots and dashes. This feature can optionally be turned on or off.

One very colorful way to communicate is to use Nautical Signal Code Flags. With Nautical Signal Code Flags messages are sent by linking together colorful flags. The app presents all the letters of the English alphabet as well as the numbers from zero to ten.

The Nautical Signal Code Flags Toolkit is an interactive learning tool for introducing the way that flags are used on ships and boats to send information. In the exploration mode users can press any key and see the flag that is associated with selected letter. Using the keyboard students can see how to spell a word using signal flags. Switch to the number mode to learn how to signal numbers from zero to ten. Press any key in this mode and see how to signal the number.

Students who are learning how to read nautical signal code flags will find the quiz feature helpful. After pressing the question mark to start the quiz, a word is randomly selected from a specific word list. The way to spell the word using signal flags is shown. The object is for the student to recognize a flag for a letter in a word and to type the corresponding letter on the keyboard.

As in the other apps, speech effects are provided so that when a letter is pressed on the keyboard it is pronounced aloud. This feature can optionally be turned on or off.

These apps are available with a volume discount for educational institutions. Each app can be purchased worldwide exclusively through the AppleApp Store. Our apps are also available through Apple’s volume purchase program. Schools get a significant discount when purchasing multiple copies of any of these apps. Contact Apple Education for more information about the volume purchase program. Please visit Ventura Educational Systems’ website for more information about this and other iOS and tvOS apps for education.

Women in Science

Historically the role that women have played in scientific discoveries has often been undervalued and under appreciated. I recently developed three apps that celebrate the contributions of three women who deserve to be recognized and giants of science: Chein-Shiung Wu, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin and Rosalind Franklin.

Chien-Shiung Wu was born near Shanghai, China. The new century had just begun, and in 1900, women did not have great educational opportunities, especially in science. Chien-Shiung Wu’s father was an educator and he founded a school. He believed that Chien-Shiung and her brothers should have the opportunity to get an education. She was the middle child. She did very well in school and her brilliance was recognized early in her academic career. Fortunately Wu was able to escape the social, political and economic upheavals that China experienced in the early 20th Century. She was able to travel to the United States and to enroll at the University of California at Berkeley in 1936. UC Berkeley was one of the top schools doing research in nuclear physics.

During the early part of theTwentieth Century, scientific disciplines were not readily open to women as a field of study. There were many challenges and roadblocks that made it overly difficult for women to get a science education. But eventually Chien-Shiung Wu became a full professor at Columbia University where she served as an inspiration to other students, especially women. In her lifetime, Chien-Shiung Wu made several important scientific breakthroughs. She also made many social breakthroughs for women.

Students will enjoy using this graphically illustrated, interactive learning tool. The timeline feature presents key events in the development of our modern understanding of the structure and composition of the atom. By tapping on timeline points brings up descriptions of historically significant events and the role the Chien-Shiung Wu played. A quiz function helps students demonstrate their comprehension of the reading material. Key science concepts are shown in colorful illustrations. We hope this app will inspire students to study science. The app shows that Chien-Shiung Wu certainly deserves the place she has earned in the history of science.

Another woman who deserves recognition is Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin.

Dorothy Crowfoot was born in Cairo, Egypt. Her father was a British archaeologist and her mother was a botanist who studied natural history. Dorothy developed a keen interest in science. Traveling to archaeological digs with her farther brought Dorothy to places where she was exposed to a great deal of Islam art. Her father worked primarily in North Africa and as archaeologist ancient art. Later at Oxford University she began to work with X-ray crystallography in studying sterols. The prestigious Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin in 1964 for her use of X-ray crystallography to discover the structures of important biochemical substances, such as B12, insulin and penicillin.

In 1944 it was discovered that the DNA molecule found in the nucleus of cells is the mechanism for heredity. It is through DNA that organisms pass on certain biological traits to the next generations. Scientists needed to understand the structure of DNA in order to better explain how it functioned. Rosalind Franklin used x-ray crystallography to create a photograph that led to an understanding of the structure of DNA.

Crosswords for Young Readers

Crosswords for Young Readers creates an interactive word puzzle with many special additional features. The target row or column is selected by tapping one of the cells of the puzzle. The clue for the word is given by displaying an image and optionally the clue word can be spoken aloud.

Words in the puzzle are spelled by dragging letter tiles to the marked cells in the puzzle. If a letter is correct it will stick in place. If it is incorrect it automatically moves off the board.

We designed our Crosswords for Young Readers to be a fun way to learn to read and spell new words. With think kids will enjoy the colorful graphics that are presented while they are improving their spelling skills.

Crosswords for Young Readers is available with a volume discount for educational institutions. This app can be purchased worldwide exclusively through the AppleApp Store. Our apps are also available through Apple’s volume purchase program. Schools get a significant discount when purchasing multiple copies of any of these apps. Contact Apple Education for more information about the volume purchase program. Please visit Ventura Educational Systems’ website for more information about this and other iOS and tvOS apps for education.

QuizCalc

I recently updated QuizCalc. QuizCalc is more than just a cool calculator. It also helps kids develop basic arithmetic skills. QuizCalc shifts into the quiz mode by simply tapping a key on the calculator face. Once in quiz mode, the operation keys (+, –, × and ÷) are used to select a math skill for practicing. Likewise the function keys (%, √, +/- and x²) shift the quiz into presenting problems related to percent, square root, integers and powers. In quiz mode QuizCalc will show two keys labelled L1 and L2. These keys are used to select the level for the problems. When L2 is selected the problems are more challenging that when using the L1 option.

But of course, QuizCalc is also a basic calculator perfect for elementary age students with percent, square root, integer, power and memory ( +, – , C & R ) functions.

QuizCalc is available with a volume discount for educational institutions. This app can be purchased worldwide exclusively through the AppleApp Store. The apps are also available through Apple’s volume purchase program. Schools get a significant discount when purchasing multiple copies of any of these apps. Contact Apple Education for more information about the volume purchase program. Please visit Ventura Educational Systems’ website for more information about this and other iOS and tvOS apps for education.

Here is a list of the skills that can be practiced with QuizCalc:

Topic	Level	Math Objectives
Addition of Whole Numbers	1	Addition Facts with Numbers from 0 to 10.
	2	Addition Facts with Numbers from 10 to 40.
Subtraction of Whole Numbers	1	Subtraction Facts with Numbers from 0 to 20.
	2	Subtraction Facts with Numbers from 10 to 60.
Multiplication of Whole Numbers	1	Multiplication Facts with Numbers from 0 to 10.
	2	Multiplication Facts with Numbers from 0 to 20.
Division of Whole Numbers	1	Division Facts with Divisors from 1 to 10.
	2	Division Facts with Divisors from 1 to 20.
Percents	1	Problems with Percents from 10 to 100.
	2	Problems with Percents from 10 to 200.
Roots of Perfect Squares	1	Find Roots from 1 to 10.
	2	Find Roots from 5 to 12.
Addition of Integers	1	Numbers from -5 to +5.
	2	Numbers from -10 to +10.
Perfect Squares	1	Find the Square of Numbers from 1 to 10.
	2	Find the Square of Numbers from -10 to 10.

Short-Term Memory Workout

Give your brain a memory workout using this fun app. Short-term Memory Workout is designed provide activities to help improve short-term memory capabilities.

Daily training activities will help improve memory capabilities. The Short-term Pattern Recall activity provides a workout for your ability to remember patterns that you see and hear. Choose the dice icon to generate a random pattern. Pay close attention while the pattern is shown. After seeing the pattern you will be asked to repeat the pattern by tapping the circular buttons on the hexagon.

The Shape and Location Sensory Recall activity focuses on the sensory recall aspect of memory. Use this activity to provide a workout that involves remember the shape and position of randomly placed on a 3×3 grid. Choose the dice icon to generate a random set of shapes placed at random locations on a 3×3 grid. After the shapes disappear, you are challenged to drag shapes from below the grid to show where the shapes were on the grid.

Challenge yourself to see how high of a score you can get on the Short-term Memory Workout activities. The scoreboard feature automatically keeps track of your scores.

Short-Term Memory Workout is available with a volume discount for educational institutions. This app can be purchased worldwide exclusively through the AppleApp Store. The apps are also available through Apple’s volume purchase program. Schools get a significant discount when purchasing multiple copies of any of these apps. Contact Apple Education for more information about the volume purchase program. Please visit Ventura Educational Systems’ website for more information about this and other iOS and tvOS apps for education.

What Does a Cow Say?

Give your child a strong foundation in language skills with this fun app. What Does a Cow Say? helps your preschooler practice speaking, understanding, and communicating in an enjoyable, interactive way.

Each page has a delightful animated character and asks the child to participate in reading the story by responding with the sound the animal makes. To treasure these moments you can record the auditory interaction by holding the record button while reading the story. Tapping another button will playback the audio recording.

What Does a Cow Say? is available with a volume discount for educational institutions. This app can be purchased worldwide exclusively through the AppleApp Store. The apps are also available through Apple’s volume purchase program. Schools get a significant discount when purchasing multiple copies of any of these apps. Contact Apple Education for more information about the volume purchase program. Please visit Ventura Educational Systems’ website for more information about this and other iOS and tvOS apps for education.

Owl Memory Match

I have had a lot of fun over the summer playing Owl Memory Match with the kids in the family over Zoom. I created a new version of the game which is now available at the Apple App Store. The new version has labels on the columns and rows so that the player’s targeted squares can be referenced using a letter and number.

Owl Memory Match is available with a volume discount for educational institutions. This app can be purchased worldwide exclusively through the Apple App Store. The apps are also available through Apple’s volume purchase program. Schools get a significant discount when purchasing multiple copies of any of these apps. Contact Apple Education for more information about the volume purchase program. Please visit Ventura Educational Systems’ website for more information about this and other iOS and tvOS apps for education.

Virtual Learning Amid School Closures for Corona Virus (COVID-19)

Experienced educators who are familiar with the challenges associated with responding to national emergencies know that school closures can affect children’s academic progress, safety and social lives. Parents and teachers are now faced with extended school closures due to the threat of the corona virus (COVID-19).

According experts at this time more than 30,000 schools in the U.S. are being closed and this leaves more than 20 million students being asked to shift to online learning activities to keep their academic progress on target. Currently entire states have shutdown schools and some of the nation’s largest school districts have recently announced closures.

Ventura Educational Systems is offering five free apps to help elementary students to keep up their math skills:

Addition Puzzles

screen1

Addition Puzzles is an exciting, interactive math game to help kids practice addition skills. Use logic to select the numbers that will solve the puzzle. Puzzles are randomly generated so the app offers an almost infinite number of puzzles at six different levels. Puzzles can be selected that involve just whole numbers from 0 to 20 or integers from -10 to 10.

Math Spin-o-Rama

$screen1$

Use Math Spin-o-Rama to help your students practice and improve math skills.

Math Spin-O-Rama provides practice with two and three place addition with a new twist. The numbers in the problem are in the wrong place and must be rotated to be in the right place to fit the answer.

The app has four levels and includes practice in doing both two-place and three place addition. Math Spin-O-Rama makes learning fun. As students answer correctly they earn gold stars. Once they have earn five gold stars they get a chance to spin the wheel to earn a prize. The prizes are collected in a table.

Make learning fun with Math Spin-O-Rama.

Addition Blockmania

screen1

Help Kids Learn Addition Facts and Improve Basic Math Skills!

Use Addition Blockmania to help your students practice and improve math skills. This game challenges students to think quickly and be accurate. The object is to find a set of blocks in the stacks whose sum is equal to the given number.

The app offers four levels of activity. Larger numbers are used at the higher levels. Animation, sound effects and speech help to make this curriculum-based math activity exciting for young mathematicians. Elementary school teachers and parents with young students will find that kids enjoy practicing math skills when they are given this app to use.

On Target Math Skills

Help Kids Practice Arithmetic Skills and Problem Solving Abilities with On Target Math Skills.

The On Target Math Skills app generates an almost infinite number of puzzles where the challeng is to make a specific number given four other numbers. Students can use any of the four basic arithmetic operations, addition, subtraction, multiplication or division to try to solve the puzzle. In coming up with a solution, students will need to use the problem order of operations.

The app challenges the player to find 10 solutions in order to earn a trophy. The app offers 5 different levels of difficulty. The On Target Math Skills app is designed to be a quick math exercise that teachers can use to provide a quick basic arithmetic and problem solving activity.

Interactive Multiplication Chart

Help Kids Learn Multiplication Facts and Improve Basic Math Skills!

The Interactive Multiplication Chart app uses a grid to help students see the patterns in the addition table.

This app challenges the player to find an intersection on a grid where the product of the two multipliers fits the randomly selected problem description. Complete the activities by finding 10 correct answers. The Interactive Multiplication Chart app is designed to be a quick math exercise that teachers can use to provide practice with basic multiplication facts.

In addition to the free apps listed above Ventura Educational Systems offers a huge library of inexpensive apps focus on math, science and reading development. Our most recent releases are Hundreds Chart Deluxe, Math Connections I and II, and Phonics Connections.

Please visit our website for more information.