App

Stack the Countries™

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet

This resource does an excellent job of engaging and educating people on world geography. It includes informational flashcards as well as games. Though the graphics are designed for elementary players, people of all ages will have fun learning.

5th - 10th Social Studies & History 25 Views 6 Downloads
App Overview

To start, players choose between learning about countries by using the Interactive Map and Flashcards, or playing the Game.

Learn/Interactive Map

In this module, players select between the interactive map or flashcards. 

The interactive map invites users to choose a continent and then a country. Once selected, the country image enlarges, its flag appears, and a new fact comes up every couple of seconds. At this point, users can elect to view the country's flashcard.

Flashcard Information:

  • Flag 
  • Capital
  • Languages
  • Border countries
  • Major cities
  • Landmarks

Flashcards can also be browsed alphabetically by continent without using the interactive map.

Game

After clicking on Game, players select between establishing their own profile or playing as a guest. (Setting a profile allows for greater customization of the game.)  

Those with profiles begin by selecting a continent, or opting for questions on the whole world. They then can choose categories of questions (minimum: 2).

Question Categories:

  • Capitals
  • Continents
  • Languages
  • Border Countries
  • Cities
  • Landmarks
  • Flags
  • Country Shapes

Question Format

Each question, regardless of its focus, requires choosing between four possible countries.

As a question is answered correctly, the player adds to the stack of countries, attempting to reach the target height. Once achieved, the reward is a country for a personalized map of achievements. The more countries won, the closer the player is to unlocking the next game.

There are two additional games to unlock: Map It and Pile Up.

The graphics are high-quality (including beautiful photographs of landmarks). Almost anyone should find this app engaging and appropriately challenging.

 

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Instructional Ideas

This could be used at a learning station for individual or paired practice. Another option is to divide the class into groups that compete to win the most countries in a set amount of time.

Classroom Considerations

Can be played in English, Spanish, or French! There is a limit to the number of player profiles. Take a look at the nearly identical game called Stack the States which focuses on US geography.

Pros
  • Entertaining and educational
  • Multiple languages
Cons
  • Limited number of user profiles