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Wolfram Alpha
Pros: It answers questions directly rather than pointing to another source.
Cons: Capabilities depend on what's in the database; not all questions can be answered.
Bottom Line: Given a wealth of fact-based data, kids can apply findings in creative and meaningful learning activities.
Wolfram Alpha is a reference site –- it provides the answers, but what happens next is up to the questioner. There are plenty of creative ways to use the data, but it probably works best with a science- or math-based curriculum. The Resources page provides access to an Educators section with lesson plans and ideas for all curricular areas. Wolfram Alpha has also created several mobile apps that could be used depending on class resources.
Wolfram Alpha, the oddly named Web resource, isn't quite a search engine nor a database, but a way to find info online based on computation and algorithms. Ask a search engine, "What's the distance to Rigel?" and you’ll see a list of links to pages that might have the answer. Ask Wolfram Alpha, and you get "266.7 parsecs," plus the distance in miles, light years, and kilometers.
Enter a question into a search box, and Wolfram Alpha will go off to find or calculate the answer. Questions must be factual and specific but don’t need to be overly scientific or technical. For example, "How many calories in 10 jelly beans?" is valid, but "How many calories in a candy bar?" or "How are jelly beans made?" are not. Plain English is accepted as well as math problems; try "gas prices 1980" and "2 * 9 - 8 + 7." Detailed reports provide the answer as well as links to related topics. A video tutorial shows users what to do, including how to use plain English or enter math problems. Think "what," "when," "where," and "how many" instead of "why."
Wolfram Alpha's databases cover hundreds of topics; kids can ask about aluminum production, mold spores, or the weather on the day they were born. The Examples page provides a list of data categories; however, some topics are still under development, such as humor, disasters, and ecology. If kids plan to use the site as part of a learning activity, take time to ensure the information is available. When you need an exact answer, Wolfram Alpha is efficient, accurate, and reliable –- as long as the answer can be found in one of its databases and the question is asked correctly.
There are questions the site can’t answer, and its attempts to narrow down the query can further complicate it. Answers are a mix of text and graphics like data tables, graphs, maps, word clouds, etc. Most impressive are its answers to math problems where it will show the answer and visual representations like manipulatives, number lines, or even elliptic paraboloids. This approach supports kids with different learning preferences.
Learning Rating
Community Rating
Great Quick Reference for Solutions to Math or Science Formulas and Problems
Unless you know what you are looking for, the answers the site gives can be far beyond what you seek or can comprehend!
Students might be a little overwhelmed with the generated responses and will need to practice using the site in order to feel comfortable using it in the future.
That being said, type in Global Warming and the response you get is a wonderful graph and statistic of temperature measurements over time on the planet.
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