FAQ’s

How do I ask a good question?

Here are some ideas on asking a good question:

· TEACHERS, we encourage you to help your students come up with a couple of GREAT class questions rather than a whole bunch of individual questions. Have a lively group discussion -- think of what you've learned from the daily lesson plans and activities. TAKE ONE OR TWO OF YOUR CLASS'S MOST INTERESTING QUESTIONS AND POST THOSE.

· Try to make your question a little more interesting and a little bit different from others. Try to think up something that has not been answered before – OR ask something different on a topic that HAS been answered. For instance, don’t just ask “How hot is the Sun?” Instead, ask “Are all parts of the Sun the same temperature?”

· Ask questions with “who, what, where, when, how?”

· Use your imagination.

· Look over the message board and ask questions about explanations you didn’t totally understand, for example, “You said an eclipse happens when the moon covers the Sun, but how does the small moon cover the big Sun?”

· Look over the website what questions have already been asked, and don’t ask the same question someone else already has.

· Make sure to use a descriptive subject line. For example if you are posting a question about the color of sunspots in the Sunspots forum a subject line of just "Sunspots" is not going to be descriptive enough, instead you might want to put down something like "Color of Sunspots".

How come my question didn’t get answered?

If your question is similar to one that has already been asked and answered, it may have been deleted or merged with someone else’s question that is very similar. We try not to have too many duplicate questions on the message board.

The subject of your question may already be well-covered on the website. Go back through the lesson plans of Mon-Fri.

Your answer may also already be easily available under http://www.nsf.gov/news/n...m.jsp?cntn_id=109939