Google Squared

Gathering information can take a lot of time. Google helps by making information available quickly.  One of the new tools that Google is developing is called Google Squared. Google Squared will actually gather information for you and put it into a spreadsheet that compares different facts about a list of items. It is extremely powerful, and a great tool that all teachers should be aware of.  Best of all, it's easy to use!  Here's how:

• Go to: http://www.google.com/squared
• Type in your search term.  (It works best to use a term where there are many items with comparable information, such as states, presidents, flowers, automobiles, planets, etc.) 
• Wait for Google to compile the information
• You can add your own information to the square by going to the far right and typing in a new piece of information you would like about the items.  Google will fill in the blanks.
• Click on an individual piece of information to find out where Google found the information, or to change the information to another result Google may have found. 
• You can save the Square by clicking "Save" 
• You can share the Square by clicking "Share" 
• You can export the Square to either Google Spreadsheet, or even to a CSV file which you can open with Excel or nearly any other spreadsheet program. 

Here's how you could use this as a teacher, as you're comparing and contrasting different objects with your students, create a square before your lesson.  Save the square, and then either share it with your students or put it up on the screen.  If you use Google Apps you can even put it into a spreadsheet that you could share with your students so they could access it on their own!