MarcoPolo Weather

Price

$ 0

In-App purchases

By: MarcoPolo Learning, Inc.

Update: 12-10-2020

Supported Platforms

iPad

iPhone

Android

MarcoPolo Weather

MarcoPolo Weather by MarcoPolo Learning, Inc. is a free, open world style app for independent exploration. It is aligned to TEKS Elementary K-2 Science standards to observe and describe weather changes from day to day and over seasons; to identify the importance of weather and seasonal information to make choices in clothing, activities, and transportation; to explore the processes in the water cycle, including evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, as connected to weather conditions; and to observe, describe, and record patterns of objects in the sky, including the appearance of the Moon. While the app targets learning about weather conditions, it can be used for speech/language purposes, as well as a fun and engaging way to encourage young learners to explore on their own.

The app features a choice of three characters: Piper the bear, Willow the rabbit, and Gorbie the hippo. A fourth character, Nash the ram, is a non-playable character that pops in from time to time, to the surprise of the player. Many other visitors, such as birds, porcupines, and skunks wander through, as well. The user can interact with one character at a time while experimenting with nine different weather conditions. As the weather type, temperature, wind speed, and day/night conditions are changed by the user, a different menu of options becomes available to help the character interact with the environment, whether it be 4 degrees in a blizzard or 104 degrees in a tornado or hurricane. As the user touches different areas of the screen, he/she will find new ways to interact and play with the character, in a cause-effect relationship that surprises and delights, such as when a rainbow appears or a skunk (they all yell “pee-yew!”) eats a beehive. A narrator explains basic weather facts and safety when different options are selected.

MarcoPolo Weather has been used in a small group and independently by students ages 6 to 13 with multiple disabilities, including Down syndrome, autism, intellectual disability, developmental delay, apraxia of speech, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) with visual impairment. All students who use this app have some degree of fine motor delay. Two are second language learners, with three languages spoken among them. These students find MarcoPolo Weather highly engaging and all request to play it frequently for the full 15 minutes at a time allowed in the classroom.

The students who use this app in our classroom are all able to use it independently, though each needed initial 1:1 modeling for the different ways to interact with it. The weather type and wind speed are chosen by a pictorial menu, temperature is chosen with a colored, horizontal sliding scale. Day/night is selected with a single touch of a symbol. A tray at the bottom allows the user to choose clothing, food, appropriate accessories, and even flowers that may or may not grown in each condition. Additional settings for six language options, voice over, and sound effects can be changed by an adult.

MarcoPolo Weather is a longtime favorite of many of my students and therefore highly recommended by all of us. They happily interact with the app independently or side-by-side with a peer playing the same app on another iPad, frequently calling others over to see what they have discovered. The app has encouraged them to explore on their own without fear of losing a game or not understanding how to play. It continues to encourage a great deal of relevant language sharing between the students and with adults and it has made a difference in the level of understanding and participation during the daily weather talk in our morning meeting.

This app may benefit users diagnosed with autism, developmental delay, intellectual disability, Down syndrome, apraxia, and traumatic brain injury.

 

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