• Editor Rating

  • Rated 4.5 stars
  • Highly Recommended
$$2.99

  • Monkey Party Learn Algebra
  • Reviewed by:
  • Published on:
  • Last modified: November 19, 2019
  • Quality
    Editor: 90%
  • Education
    Editor: 80%
  • Entertainment
    Editor: 90%
  • Value
    Editor: 100%
  • Child Friendly
    Editor: 100%

Review Summary:

Monkey Party Learn Algebra makes an entertaining and valuable introduction to basic early algebra concepts, including balancing equations, combining like terms, using negative numbers, multiplying with fractions, and introducing the concept of graphing lines based on equations.

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App Info

Price: [app 1020645534] {price}
AppStore User Rating: {stars}[/app]

Download on the App Store

Overview

Monkey Party Learn Algebra presents basic pre-algebraic and early algebraic concepts in a visual, hands-on fashion to help students learn about balancing equations, working with variables, and combining like terms. The app presents problems involving various types of fruits with different weights and offers water barrels to balance them on a pair of leaves like a see-saw. This teaching portion of the app gives very clear directions and guidance to solve the problems. This section covers negative numbers and combining like terms as well. The application section has users multiply recipes using the fruits from the other section and figure out how many fruits are needed for a specific number of party guests. This section includes some work with fractions and demonstrates how to graph the simple equations created.

Features include:

  • 18 teaching levels
  • 7 application levels
  • Covers balancing equations and combining like terms
  • Covers negative numbers, fractions and graphs
  • Hands-on, graphic activities

Quality

Monkey Party Learn Algebra is a high quality app that works well and is well conceived. The directions are clear and all aspects function as expected. It requires several types of interactions, which adds interest to the game, and the animations are effective and clear. One drawback to the game is the lack of a clear method to undo errors.  There were several times when I realized I had made a mistake but had no way to fix the problem and was penalized on the level. There is also not a clear path from the second section (where students work with the recipes) to the main menu.  One must complete the task at hand to return to a point where choices are available.

Education

The developers of Monkey Party Learn Algebra did an outstanding job of illustrating several important early algebra concepts. The interfaces of the two sections are very hands-on in nature. In the section about balancing equations, various fruits weigh from one to five units and can be balanced by barrels of water. Floating balloons represent negative numbers. Sometimes the fruits are hidden in crates, forcing the user to determine how many of which kind of fruit are being used. The app uses a pair of leaves to represent the concept of balancing; when one side gets heavier than the other, that leaf begins to tip downwards and the fruits, crates, or water barrels are in danger of sliding off.  In this way, the app maintains a game-like interface that young students will find appealing.

The application section, where the fruits are used to make various desserts for the party, tells how many of each type of fruit are needed for one batch, then asks students to calculate how many fruits are needed for multiple batches. Correct work is eventually rewarded with an animated party scene. This section includes minimal instruction with fractions and shows a graph relating the numbers of fruits to the amount of dessert made.

This app does an outstanding job of making algebraic concepts concrete and easy to understand, but does not do enough with translating the graphic experience to traditional equations and numerical representations. Developers missed a number of opportunities to cement that knowledge in students, such as having a dynamic equation to represent the current state of the balancing leaves, say, down at the bottom of the screen.  On a positive note, however, demonstration of how equations relate to English is included, but could be done more frequently.

Entertainment

Monkey Party is a fun app that is likely to engage younger children in practice with basic algebraic concepts. The game-like play of the main section is the primary kid-pleaser.  The recipe section, with its reward party at the end, is not as engaging, in my opinion.  The party scene is animated, but developers should consider giving players a bit more incentive than watching the same scene over and over again. For example, it might be possible to allow players to earn and add characters as they finish more sections, or to move the characters around before turning the animation on.

Value

This app is well worth the $2.99 price tag, particularly if you have several children who will use and enjoy it. It is designed for grades 3 through 7, so will be suitable for a wide age range.  It teaches vital concepts for success in algebra in palatable and enjoyable ways.

Child Friendliness

This app is totally child-friendly.

  • Parent area (contains no external links or social media)
  • NO external links
  • NO social media
  • NO in-app purchase
  • NO 3rd party ads

Monkey Party Learn Algebra makes an entertaining and valuable introduction to basic early algebra concepts, including balancing equations, combining like terms, using negative numbers, multiplying with fractions, and introducing the concept of graphing lines based on equations.

$$2.99
Editor rating
Rated 4.5 stars