Wolfram Alpha is a search engine that is probably best known for helping students solve mathematics problems. But there is more to Wolfram Alpha than just computational data. Wolfram Alpha can help students quickly locate information about famous people in history, locate socioeconomic data, find science data, and even help students find information about music theory. Unlike on Google or Bing, when students search on Wolfram Alpha they won’t be shown a list of links. When students search Wolfram Alpha they will be shown organized collections of information. That is why Wolfram Alpha and Google searches can complement each other.

Wolfram Alpha offers a free Google Docs Add-on that students can use to conduct research without leaving the documents they’re viewing. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to install and use the Wolfram Alpha Google Docs Add-on.

The following video offers a brief overview of what makes Wolfram Alpha different from other search engines.