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Sparky's Brain Busters Trivia App by NFPA Posted: 18 Sep 2015 01:26 PM PDT National Fire Prevention Week is October 4-10. "Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres." - NFPA The National Fire Protection Association has put out another great (free) app to encourage your students to get involved while practicing school content through a fun trivia game! Sparky's Brain Busters Trivia app is targeted at 3rd-5th graders. The game has different levels to represent each grade and is great for differentiation. Rookies - 3rd grade Stars - 4th grade Legends - 5th grade The game can be projected on to your smartboard (class mode) or students can play on their own or with a friend (multiplayer mode) on an ipad. Click here for a mini trailer about the game. Trivia questions are common core aligned (science, math, social studies and literature). There are questions about animal adaptations, erosion, solar energy, fractions, basic algebra and government (just to name a few themes). I tried the app out on third graders and they had a blast earning badges for answering questions correctly. Students earn badges that represent different content areas: 1. Math: Mrs. O'Leary's Cow  (Farm animal accused of kicking over a lantern and starting the Great Chicago Fire) 2. Science: Caveman (Inventor of fire) 3. Social Studies: Molly Williams (African-American cook for NYC Fire Company 11 / first female firefighter) 4. Fire Safety: Benjamin Franklin ("Father of Firefighting" / co-founded first volunteer fire department) 5. Sparky's Choice Useful links: SparkySchoolHouse for teachers: http://ow.ly/S6wMm The site has music and videos, plus fun (FREE) lessons for preschool to fifth grade (including character traits and punctuation)! There is a great video by Laura Tarshis to teach your students about The Chicago Fire of 1871 Download for free: The app on iTunes: http://ow.ly/S6jTk The app on Amazon for Android: http://ow.ly/S6lHJ