Are you looking for high school social studies apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.
The Knowledge Compass – The Knowledge Compass is a website designed to help students create powerful questions to guide their inquiry or research. Students can choose from ten question types to begin developing their research question: 5WS questions, inquiry questions, the question matrix, Socratic questions, ME questions, 5E questions, habits of mind, Six Thinking Hats, convergent questions, and divergent questions. Each question type includes an explanation and steps for the student to take to craft their research question. This website is particularly useful in science, but can also be applied to literacy, history, and social studies classes or anywhere that students engage in inquiry or research.
Win the White House – This is a game that lets young Americans experience a presidential campaign firsthand and understand the process it takes to run a campaign successfully. The game starts with the user choosing a political party and five issues they will represent. Users get to manage elements of a presidential campaign such as winning their party’s nomination, selecting a running mate, raising funds, polling voters, launching media campaigns, and making personal appearances. Meticulous planning and wise spending are encouraged.
IXL Learning– IXL Learning has been proven to be effective in providing comprehensive, curriculum-based math and English language arts content for kindergarten to grade 12. It also provides an immersive learning experience in science, math, language arts, and social studies for K-12. It produces real results, which is why it is trusted by top teachers and presently used by The Elite 100.
Otus– Otus is a ground-breaking operating system designed especially for kindergarten through twelfth-grade classes, schools, and districts. Otus was created by two social studies teachers from the Chicago district who set out to make educational innovations easier to use. They hope to achieve this by assembling student interests, engagements, performance, and growth in a top-to-bottom, holistic approach.
Sites in VR – Sites in VR allows students to explore famous landmarks from the classroom or their own home. This app primarily focuses on Islamic temples, tombs, and ancient cities; however, there is also an outer space component. Landmarks from Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Morocco, Kuwait, Yemen, Macedonia, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, and Greece are included. If you’ve always imagined your history or social studies students touring through the pyramids of Egypt or the Colosseum in Rome, this app can fulfill that wish. Sites in VR includes more than 1,000 high-quality panoramic images and promises that “you will feel as if you are there…”
Smarty Pins – Well suited for history, geography, or social studies courses, Smarty Pins, was created by Google engineers as a fun way to brush up on map skills and review trivia. There are six main categories that students can choose from: March Madness, Arts & Culture, Science & Geography, Sports & Games, Entertainment, and History & Current Events. Once a category is selected, the student is asked a trivia question and prompted to find the location on the map that provides the answer. Bonus points are awarded for quick thinking! If a student finds themselves stumped, hints are provided as the remaining time to submit an answer runs out.
Tap Quiz Maps World Edition – Perfect for the geography or social studies classroom, TapQuiz Maps World Edition lets students learn the countries of the world in a game show environment. Simply tap the correct answer for each country on the map and track your progress mastering country names through the statistics page. Regions included in this app: U.S. States, Canadian Provinces, Mexico and Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Australia and Oceania. There are two modes: Tap and Type and Discovery Mode. In Tap and Type, students are prompted to type in the name of the country, state, or province. In Discovery Mode, students can tap a country, state, or province to briefly see the name. This mode is particularly useful when trying to learn a new region.
The Hidden World of Our National Parks – Using 360° video, students can virtually follow park rangers into National Parks around the country and explore. From kayaking through icebergs to see a receding glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park to flying with thousands of bats through a cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, students can explore and discover fascinating corners of the U.S. National Parks system. Rangers provide facts and figures about each National Park as students move through the videos, so the website is both educational and engaging. It would be a good fit for any social studies or science class.
Khan Academy– Khan Academy has more than 40,000 interactive Common Core-aligned practice questions and above 10,000 videos and explanations in economics, history, math, and more. This is the best study app and tutoring app for students of all ages who are struggling in science and other subjects. You can easily bookmark your best content to “Your List,” which can be used offline when you’re not connected to the Internet.
iCivics– iCivics is one of the first sites for civics and citizenship units, iCivics, Inc. The site offers personal games as apps for students to learn how to be proactive, craft laws, create an executive order, win law arguments, run for the presidency, and so on. It is very interactive and is easily understood.
The Knowledge Compass – The Knowledge Compass is a website designed to help students create powerful questions to guide their inquiry or research. Students can choose from ten question types to begin developing their research question: 5WS questions, inquiry questions, the question matrix, Socratic questions, ME questions, 5E questions, habits of mind, Six Thinking Hats, convergent questions, and divergent questions. Each question type includes an explanation and steps for the student to take to craft their research question. This website is particularly useful in science, but can also be applied to literacy, history, and social studies classes or anywhere that students engage in inquiry or research.
