Stack the States is great for practicing Focus and Working Memory, and for increasing background knowledge in Social Studies.

Focus

Getting started and then maintaining attention and effort to tasks. Ignoring external distractions.

As users begins to "stack" states after each correct answer, they must take into account the size and shape of each state. Users can rotate and flip states to coordinate their uneven boundaries in way that makes it easy to keep building. Careless drops will cause states to fall off the screen or make it very difficult to continue stacking. While the app shares similar concepts with Tetris, Stack the States' end goal is very different - as users try to stack up their states high, rather than reduce their stack down. Still, a keen spacial intelligence, and an increased concentration are necessary skills when building a tower of states, which should fit together well enough to continue building upwards.

Working Memory

Recalling and retaining information in our mind while working.

Stack the States intentionally repeats questions as a way to reinforce and scaffold learning. Because its primary aim is to instruct, rather than entertain, Stack the States uses similar techniques to those employed in the classroom. Inherent scaffolding and content reinforcement can engage Working Memory without users even knowing it. Questions are grouped by region, and the same states are used consecutively as potential answers. This allows users to acquaint themselves with the appearance of each state, eventually developing a lasting familiarity, improving the consistency of their correct answers. Basically, users must recall learned information and apply as they answer new questions, a major tenant of the Working Memory thinking skill.