ASK A SCIENTIST

There is a surprisingly large number of ‘ask a scientist’ websites that rely on experts to answer scientific questions submitted by students or teachers. These are a very useful resource for project work when you don’t want to reinvent the wheel, but like much technology, they need to be used correctly. Teachers are generally unimpressed by (and wise to) assignments cut-and-pasted from the worldwide web (or worse, pages printed off in their entirety) and getting expert replies to some homework questions could easily be construed as cheating. Some websites even refuse to answer questions on subjects commonly covered in general reference books or textbooks.

Asking a scientist should be a last, rather than a first, resort. This is for your own benefit as much as for reasons of principle. A website may receive a few hundred or more questions a day, so not all are answered, and, as with the web in general, the standard of the answers can be very variable. Although most of the expert replies I have seen are excellent, some answers can be oversimplified to the point of being misleading, while others are so technically difficult that you need to be an undergraduate in the subject to understand them.

There is now a tremendous amount of information readily available on the web and so when most people fail to find the information they need it is because they don’t know how to use a search engine properly. The choice of keywords is crucial. Google’s website on basic use of search enginesw1 is definitely worth consulting before you fire off your question.

If your best search efforts and Wikipedia fail you, choose your ‘ask a scientist’ website carefully, checking that it answers questions in your subject area of interest. The best websites give a list of instructions for those wishing to submit questions – read these carefully. Think hard about the question you want to ask. If your question is long, rambling or unclear, you are unlikely to get the answer you want. Specific questions like ‘How are cirrus clouds formed?’ are much more likely to be answered than ‘How do you prepare a sample for electron microscopy?’ To maximise your chances of receiving an answer at the level you need, include information about what you already know and where you are unclear, and state who you are (teacher, or for students, age or grade level). Finally, consider approaching someone at your local university or technical college rather than an anonymous, remote website. Many research scientists are only too happy to help science teachers or students, so you may find a very useful contact closer to home.

To ask a SCIENTIST your burnng science question

Click Here .....MAD SCIENCE

or here ...........HOWARD HUGHS MEDICAL INSTITUTE

or here ...........CORNELL CENTRE FOR MATERIALS RESEARCH

or here ...........SCORESCIENCE

or here ...........NASA

or here ...........SCIENTIFIC AMERICA

or here............CANADIAN SCIENCE

or here............BUENA VISTA UNIVERSITY

or here............BIRMINGTON UNIVERSITY (USA)

or here............EDUCATION ARM