Normally we think of spreadsheets as tools for performing mathematical calculations and logical operations. Certainly this is the original realm of spreadsheets, but over the years they have expanded into much more powerful - and versatile - tools. Google has taken that expansion one step further with the Googlelookup() function.
The basic format of the function is googlelookup("entity","attribute")
So, if you were to type into a cell =googlelookup("Marlon Brando","Birthday") the cell would return 3 April 1924.
Better yet, you could type Marlon Brando in cell A3 and then create the formula =googlelookup(A3,"Birthday) and get the same result. That would allow you to copy the formula down column B. Now, if you typed Sarah Palin in A4, B4 would return 11 February 1964. If you typed Jimmy Smits in cell B5, C5 would return 9 July 1955.
Here is just a smattering of the types of things you can look up with Googlelookup:
- Ages of famous people
- Heads of state of countries
- GDP of countries
- Population of countries
- Atomic numbers and weights of elements
- Statistics of famous athletes
- Details of dinosaurs (weight, size, ...)
- Statistics of planets and other heavenly bodies
The classroom applications of this are really limited only by the imagination.
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