Apps and Tools for Primary Geography

This list of tools and apps was selected by the 2014-15 cohort of PGCE (Primary) associate teachers at the University of Chester. Comments are from the group and include some examples of classroom practice.
Google Earth
Google Earth allows you to look at maps all over the world and look at specific places using Street View which includes real images. Although children can access it on a laptop or iPad, I have used this with a Year 3/4 class on the interactive whiteboard whilst teaching about their local area. The children loved being able to find their house or their school. It is very easy to use and the children got the hang of it quickly. In terms of field work, children could research areas they are about to visit using the app. 

Google Earth was great for the children when helping them with instructional writing. The children were about to go on an overnight residential, so we used Google Earth to help them visually see the route that they would be taking to get to their destination. 

Google Earth is a fantastic app which you can use for free. It allows you to see all the places in the world from the classroom. This is a great app for both teachers and pupils and can be incorporated into a variety of different topics. This app provides new and innovative ways at looking at the earth.

This app would be very useful and letting them see how their local area that they have been studying fits into the larger picture of the country, continent and the world as a whole to give them some idea of the huge scale they are dealing with. 

Google Earth is a great app which is free to download onto an iPhone or iPad. It has the advantages of being able to zoom in and focus on any place in the world from the classroom. This app could be used for both pupils and teachers and used for a variety of lessons, not only Geography. This app can be used in 3D to give the children a clearer and more realistic view of places including Street Views which include real images.
Google Maps
This is a simple and easy to use app which allows pupils to explore locations which they may not be physically able to visit. This was particularly helpful when using Street View. In popular places or searches, it provides extra information which may be useful. This was used in my classes to identify the high street and viewing different built up areas. It was especially useful for cross curricular activities as it gave pupils and understanding of distances and travelling times.

I used Google Maps with a Y5/6 class when studying comparisons with a village and a city. It linked with work we were doing on Ordnance Survey maps. Children could locate different places, take a tour, devise a route somewhere, measure distance. It was very fun and interactive. The children learned a lot from using this app.

Google Maps is a fantastic, free app which can be used with all ages. It can be used to locate different places, show different types of routes and be useful for older children to show how to get from A to B. It also gives you a lot of information like miles, time and other types of distance, which can be helpful with other aspects of the curriculum.
Barefoot World Atlas
A fantastic Atlas app that would be brilliant to use at primary level. It's bright, colourful and very interactive. It is everything atlases were not when I was at school!

This app provides a great opportunity to let children lead their own learning through discovery. The app provides interesting, colourful and detailed factual information about the features within and cultures of a country or location. I have used this app in class during a topic on homes around the world and pupils were asked to investigate different settlements and choose one to explore further. In addition to providing information, this app also allows you to input your own information and add a picture which is great, as your class could build up their knowledge and have a visual representation of how much they have learned. 
National Geographic World Atlas
This engaging app contains HD images. It is ideal for KS1 and KS2 with information about cities and countries. You can continue zooming through continent-level maps into detailed maps - close enough to see your home or school. A very useful, interactive 3D globe.
Earth Viewer
Free app aimed at upper KS2 children. Could be used as an extended activity for those children who need to be challenged further. Children can explore the climate and observe the changes our earth has experienced over millions of years. Whilst the information may be challenging for some, the app is lot more interactive and engaging than reading from a text book.
Sphere
Sphere is a free app for iPhones and iPads. It allows users to see and create 360° images of places. Users can search for countries or landmarks by name or using a map. The map shows other spheres that have been uploaded locally so children may be able to see places that they already know as well as locations they are learning about. The 360º view allows the user to feel like they are actually standiing in the middle of the place and tilt the iPad the way that they would like to look. Users can also create, save and share their own spheres, which would be good for follow up work after a trip.
Met Office
As the UK’s national meteorological service, the Met Office app provides accurate weather forecasts. Forecasts cover both the UK and the world as well as giving specialist forecasts for aviation, shipping and leisure. There is satellite imagery, pressure charts, rainfall charts, tide times and air quality as well as giving useful information about historical weather data. It also shows summaries of the climate characteristics and historical data for each region of the UK. This is a great app which could be really useful in the classroom.
NOAA Now
This app allows weather forecasts to be viewed and uses geography specific vocabulary. This could be used in the classroom if weather was going to be observed to provide a model of terminology. It can also be used to view weather across the whole world so could be a good resource to use for comparing weather observed in the UK to weather elsewhere in the world on the same day. 
NOAA: Weather Radar
Another free app for iPhones and iPads. It allows you to see real-time rain, snow, mixed precipitation, and cloud cover through radar and satellite imagery. It has detailed weather information for locations around the world in both 24-hour and 3-day forecasts. It could be adapted for both KS1 and KS2.

This is a handy app for showing weather patterns across the globe. It can be used to check weather on a local level but also to check weather anywhere around the globe. It uses radar and satellite technologies to collect meteorological data and presents the data in an colourful and engaging way. Would be good for either key stage as it is up to the user to determine what depth of information is needed. 
Disaster Alert
This app displays active hazards that are taking place around the world. The hazards which are displayed in the app are happening in real time. Some active hazards are: hurricanes, droughts, floods, storms, wildfires and much more. The app also includes an interactive map which allows countries to be further explored. 
Explore
A website and free app. Can be utilised to develop skills in observation over time through the various live web cams to different environments for different animals. However, often on the live web cam it can show a vast expanse of empty Arctic with no polar bear in sight! Other live web cams will show activity. Still a good way to show what it's like in the Arctic. Try http://explore.org/live-cams/player/bella-hummingbird-nestarctic or http://explore.org/live-cams/player/santa-monica-sunset-cam for some guaranteed action!
Toca Nature
This app allows children to explore a variety of environments and the plants and animals that inhabit the area. This includes mountains, lakes forests etc. This could be used as a good introduction to get children thinking before visiting a particular environment. It could also be useful if the school environment is an urban one and school trips to natural settings are difficult. However, clearly the actual environments would be far more stimulating than the app can be and as such this is a limitation. It would be useful as a discussion point for classroom based learning or as an introduction to a topic.      
BBC Primary Geography
This website is aimed at children aged 4-11 and has a wide range of interactive games and apps that can be used in the classroom. They cover many of the topics in the National Curriculum. A lot of them are great for warm-up activities to introduce the topic or as plenaries to check children's progress and understanding. Very bright and colourful and easy to use.  
iLearn Geography
This an interactive resource app that shows information on a range of landmarks with a creative user interface. These range from natural features, such as rivers, waterfalls and volcanoes, to man-made features, such as statues, buildings and cities.
GeoPop
An app for children 9+. The app can be used with both children who have limited knowledge and those with extensive knowledge of the world. The app has three levels of difficulty: easy, normal and challenge. There are easy quizzes on location of countries, normal and challenge quizzes on geography, landmarks, culture, history, sports and current events. It is a fun, colourful and cutomisable app. 
Geomaster Plus
Geomaster Plus is a useful app for researching and testing basic geographical location knowledge. It allows you to look on a world scale at different locations down to individual cities in certain countries and also provides quizzes based on location, flags, mountains and seas. It would be useful for providing background information and testing locational knowledge.

Geomaster Plus has lots of different levels and allows the children to progress. Assessments can then be done based on their knowledge and understanding shown in the quiz. It's a fun and interactive way for the children to learn! 
Stack the countries
Stack the countries is a fun game aimed at KS2 and possibly KS1 pupils. Children are tested on their geographical knowledge, such as capitals, landmarks, continents and more. It is a good way of getting children confident with their geography.

Stack the countries is fun and bright to interest the children. You can't select specific areas of the world to work on, so maybe difficult to fit with topics within the curriculum.   
Primary Games Arena - Geography
This is a great website of games to secure children's understanding of Geography. Mainly KS1 with some games that continue to upper KS2. Could be used for homework.
Ansel & Clair’s Adventures In Africa
This app looks great for teachers to share with children that may be focusing on a topic on Africa. It includes an atlas that children can explore where they must locate Africa. This also features two characters that give useful information and facts about the different places available to explore within the continent. The characters also give interesting information about the animals, places and weather you should expect. It is interactive, and includes audio description. Although this app is restricted for information regarding just Africa, I would use this app with KS1 as an introduction to Africa.

This is an exciting app that makes learning seem very fun. The main alien character (Ansel) will be engaging for children. The app contains both audio and written explanations making it suitable for children who have difficulty reading. It is very interactive. There is lots of subject specific vocabulary, so its a very educational app. The app is however, limited in that it does on focus on Africa's animals and ecosystem. It would be great for topic work on Africa! 
And finally, three generic apps that have potential for enhancing fieldwork in primary geography:
  • PicsArt  is an app and website which enables the user to take/select/collate a range of images in the field which are representative of a location.
  • Picle is an app that can be found on the App Store for free. It allows you to capture moments on your phone, turn them into stories and then share with friends. This is a great app that can be used in primary schools, as children can take pictures and record sound clips from the environment that they are in and researching.
  • Skitch is an app that would provide children with the opportunity to take photographs and work with maps whilst completing fieldwork. They can then add arrows and text to their maps and photographs meaning that they can easily annotate and show what they have been working on whilst completing fieldwork tasks.