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It can be simple, like "Why do red and blue make purple?" Or more complex like, "How does the internet work?" Many times the best questions are found by listening to people around you. You might be in the lunch line when you overhear the perfect question for your explanatoids™, so keep an open mind to ideas and things around you.

Some tips on Questions

• Focus on what you see everyday
• Faraway places and things are more interesting when you relate them to your everyday world
• Make the question simple to understand; so people will want to find the answer
  

Sometimes our ideas are bigger than our abilities and sometimes we just think they are. Take a look at the way college students at Carnegie Mellon University made this explanatoid

 

 

 

 

by looking at their process book. Draw and write how you want your explanatoids to work. If you want to make a Web page or a video maybe you need a storyboard (sort of like a cartoon). If it is going to be a big sign with moving parts or a board game start by making quick sketches of all of the parts and how they move. Show your drawings to your friends, parents, teachers, big sister, or anyone who can help you figure out if your explanatoids™ really explain the science behind everyday things. You can start with a small model size version. It doesn't matter how far you take your idea, we want to see it. Send in your explanatoids™ or a picture of it to info@explanatoids.org

• When making your sketches keep in mind that it doesn't have to be pretty just try to get the basic idea across.
• Ask people what they can and can't understand about your sketch and how you can make it better.
• If your idea is something big or elaborate, start simple with just the writing or the drawings; make small goals instead of trying to do it all at once.

 

The answer may seem obvious to you, but part of the fun is when you find the unexpected. So check your answer.

Some tips on checking your answer

• Resources online and at the library are easy to find. Experts love to help an expert can be anyone, your parents, teachers, or even the bus driver (maybe he can explain why the salt melts ice on the road) Experiments don't have to use complex equipment; you can experiment with the laws of probability with just a set of dice
  

Draw a picture, make a mobile, create a computer program, or make a video, anything that lets people "see" what you are talking about.

Some tips on helping people "see":

• Use characters, people would rather learn from other people (even if they are cartoons) than graphs and charts.
• Make it move, maybe your poster has a small pull tap that make things appear or disappear, maybe you create a Web page with fancy graphics, if you can make your explanatoids™ move you will keep people interested
• Think outside of the box, if the box is just the answer you find in your biology textbook, think outside of that. You don't need a new answer just a new way to explain it.
  

Pick an everyday activity, research the science that explains how it works, and then create a sign or Web site that will explain it.

When you've finished, be sure to submit your creation by email to explanatoids™ at info@explanatoids.org and share your science discovery with all your friends.