My Take
This is a great search engine that can do many things that a standard Google search won't do well. On the other hand, it's not as deep as Google. If you type in "elephant" for example, it'll give you the taxonomy, measurements, and some pictures, but not much beyond numerical facts.
How I Use It
Intro lab that covers qualitative vs. quantitative data and unit conversions. I have students look up their favorite animals and compare some of the measurements in metric measurements. They do unit conversions on these measurements.
More community reviews for Wolfram Alpha
Denis K.
District 75 Special Education Science Instructional Coach
New York, NY
June 16, 2014
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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Kristye S.
Teacher
Huntington East Middle School
Huntington, WV
June 10, 2014
Worth the fee for the full version.
I think this app is worth the fee, do not like that each major component is a separate fee though and there is some overlap on features between app components.
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Joseph E.
Teacher
Huntington High School
Huntington, WV
June 10, 2014
It's more than just a calculator...
With respect to problem solving, it would be great if the web site offered a way to show the work without users paying for the Pro service while at school. It does a great job with in-depth explanations instead of just getting answers. However, it provides a wonderful opportunity for extended learning. For an example of extended learning, the students can discover how the program comes up with certain properties of shapes.
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