Parents' Guide to Wolfram Alpha

Website http://www.wolframalpha.com
Wolfram Alpha Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Michelle Kitt By Michelle Kitt , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 12+

Storehouse of data answers kids' questions -- if specific.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 12+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

See all
age 8+

Based on 2 parent reviews

 

 

See all 2 parent reviews
age 10+

Based on 2 kid reviews

 

 

See all 2 kid reviews

Privacy Rating Warning

  • Personal information is not sold or rented to third parties.
  • Unclear whether personal information are shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • Unclear whether this product uses a user's information to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Data profiles are not created and used for personalised advertisements.
Learn more about our privacy ratings

What's It About?

Simply enter a question into the search box and WOLFRAM ALPHA will go off to calculate the answer. Questions must be factual and specific, but don't need to be super 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.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 2 ):
Kids say ( 2 ):

As long as the data is available, Wolfram Alpha is an impressive number cruncher. It's back-end processing is fast and the answer reports are well designed, downloadable, and shareable. No doubt it's useful and a data junkie's dream, but it will be hit or miss with kids. Unless they have a paid Wolfram Alpha Pro membership or a school assignment requiring use of the site, kids' interaction will be over in two steps: 1) ask a question and 2) read the answer. Curious kids may be fine with that and find its wide range of data fascinating. Kids with specific interests (bridges, football, acoustics, movie budgets) will enjoy the deep dive on their own. And some kids may have no interest in it at all. Language skews toward adults, particularly when more info is needed to narrow down the question.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Talk about quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data deals with numbers and measurements, while qualitative data relates to descriptions and observations. Which data is most important for choosing a college? Knowing when it's time to water a plant? Deciding to pass the ball or kick it? Purchasing a car? Asking for a date? Discuss the role of data in everyday decisions.

  • Check out some of the data Common Sense Media has collected about smoking, alcohol, and junk food ads in the media as well as our tips for combating unhealthy messages.

Website Details

  • Subjects : Math : measurement , statistics , Science : biology , physics
  • Skills : Thinking & Reasoning : analyzing evidence , asking questions , collecting data
  • Genre : Educational
  • Pricing structure : Paid, Free
  • Last updated : November 11, 2020

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

Wolfram Alpha Poster Image

You May Also Like...

See all

Learning Tools for Out-of-the-Box Thinkers

See all recommended website lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate