Especially if you are a math teacher, I recommend you check out the online tool, Wolfram-Alpha, by the creators of Mathematica.  It was voted the greatest computer innovation of the year by Popular Science.  It’s not the most user-friendly name for an online tool and billed as a “computational knowledge engine.”  The best way to truly understand its value is by testing it out.  It looks a lot like a Google or Yahoo search box, but instead of searching web sites across the Internet, it does all the work on its own servers, crunching, comparing, analyzing, and providing the data you provide it with.  It certainly does more than a simple graphing calculator might accomplish, since its computations involves all subjects besides mathematics, including history, language, astronomy and statistics.  You have to use a little creativity in terms of seeing its potential.

I initially saw its power when I was seeking answers to a number of CAHSEE questions (that I didn’t remember how to solve and didn’t want to spend time figuring out).  I basically copied and pasted the formulas into the Wolfram-Alpha machine, and had the correct answers instantly.  It didn’t just give me the answers, but offered additional information useful in figuring out how I might solve the problems had I wanted to.

I recommend you try the following queries and see its power for yourself.

1. 25 miles = feet

2. 5x + 12 = 27

3. 45% of 123.50

4. slope = 5, y-intercept = 1

5. population of china 2005

6. California Florida

7. 2x^2 + 12 = 72

8. | x^2 |+ 7 > 15

9. World War II vs. World War I

10. 4,9,13,77,123,852

11. SNE APPL

12. sagittarius vs scorpio

13. facetious

14. life expectancy 20 year old united states

15. probability of 6 dice

Bonus: And of course, What is the speed of a swallow? (Monty Python reference)