Fun with Google: N for Ngram Viewer

Fun with Google A-Z takes a quick peek at random letters of the alphabet that lead us to fun and quirky things that are (usually) connected to Google. Follow the fun with short videos and informative blog posts randomly featuring a random letter and a Google-y idea that it sparks. Click here to check out the rest of the list: bit.ly/FunWithGoogleA-Z

Watch the video below for a quick overview of what and how:

What: In a very simplistic description, an n-gram is a collection of words. In the case of the Ngram Viewer from books.google.com we can get line graph snap shots of when words have frequently appeared in print from 1500-2019.

Audience: This is great fun for any history buff, as you can try to predict historical events based on peaks in the word usage graph. Using it as a predicting tool would be splendid in many different subject area classes as well.

• English Language Arts:
  • try some “old English “ and Shakespearean words;
  • have words changed in spelling? -plot changes;
• Science: have students try to guess the decade when technology words or inventions first start to appear (microwave, lightbulb, Internet, genome, global warming, etc.) – try words related to your current unit of study as a fun unit opener
• Social Studies:
  • try words of places – Versailles, Hong Kong, Dubai, Pearl Harbour; have students predict high points and/or once they see the graph, have them try to explain why the graph line rises or falls in certain places
  • Compare historical figures who have similarities (Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin) or differences (Obama, Trump); discuss, analyze
• Math: dig into the math and science explanations by clicking “?”, then “view all options; great applications here for probability and coding

Time to Play: Watch the overview video above. You will want to spend at least 5 minutes trying it out your first time. And then if you are like me, you will keep coming back to it for days to test “word use” theories as they occur to you

Equipment: Works nicely on a computer or on a browser for your mobile device. To get really fancy, click the “?” at the end of the search bar and then. “view all options”. This is where you can find all of the tricks for probability queries.

Click here for the Google A-Z Table of Contents Launch Pad.

Fun with Google A-Z YouTube Playlist.