Long story made short, Wolfram Alpha is now live. It’s a bit more complex than your average search engine, so I’ll give you some examples of how it can be used in the History/Social Studies classroom. I’ll use a French Revolution bit of flavoring, since I’m up to my neck in it in class right now. You or your students can try out other content with the same search examples.

I got a little carried away with this, and it took a bit of time, probably due to the massive attempts at reaching Wolfram’s server.

If you discover some other neat and/or useful examples, please comment below!

If a 10 lb guillotine blade falls 12 ft, what’s the force?

When Louis XIV said “l’etat, c’est moi,” what was he?

On what day was the Bastille attacked, what day of the week was it, and exactly how long ago did it happen?

What did the calendar look like for that year?

On October 5, 1789, how far did the royal family have to march in humiliation from the palace at Versailles to the palace of the Tuileries in Paris?

Who was Robespierre?

How did he compare to Marat?

The 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was 802 words in French. How many characters is that, how many pages, and how long would it take me to type it?

One of the products of the Revolutionaries was a new system of measurement based on the distance between the northernmost and southernmost points of France. How long was one of these units?

How many dollars of debt did each French person owe as a result of France’s support of the American Revolution?

The Revolution was greatly influenced by the price and availability of bread. How much nutritional value is in 2 slices of french bread?

If the people of France had followed Marie Antoinette’s advice (which she never actually said) “let them eat cake,” how much nutritional value would be in 2 pieces of cake?

I’m making a word puzzle for my students, what is an anagram for “cahiers?”

What is the difference between French and Napoleon Bonaparte’s native language?

What’s the geographic difference between Napoleon Bonaparte’s first place of exile (Elba) and the second (St. Helena)?

What’s the distance between Waterloo and St. Helena?

How much would that be in the revolutionary “meters?”

What does 7.451×10^6 meters mean?

How do I say that number?

What are two movies about the French Revolution, and how do they compare?

Was the Battle of Waterloo part of the Seven Years War? Can you prove it with a timeline?

Warning- drifting away from original focus…

Did the Holy Roman Empire exist at the same time as the Kingdom of Sicily?

Babe Ruth was paid $100,000 to play for the Yankees in 1920. How much would that be today?

How much was the same amount worth when Ruth died in 1948?

How much did Ruth make per hour?

Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt were fifth cousins. What does that mean?

How many Roosevelts are there in the US?

Enjoy, and be patient. I’m hoping the system speeds up soon, and more options become available.

 

May 16th by admin