Question Rules

A few important reminders:

• Ask a Biologist only answers questions for school age children grades K-12 and Instructors of students grades K-12. Parents are also welcome to facilitate question submissions for their children.
• We do not have the resources to answer homework and school assignment questions. Please see our suggested homework links for help with these types of questions.
• There are no physicians, veterinarians, or tree surgeons that participate in Ask a Biologist, therefore we do not answer questions that deal with medical diagnoses for people, pets, or plants.
• Any basic question that can be answered with current Internet reference sites are not answered. We compiled a list of reference sites to help with these questions. 
• If you are looking for science fair projects ideas, please check our science fair links.
• Our general web links pages includes links to topics of commonly asked questions. Please take a look at these topics before submitting a question.
• We try to return an answer in 72 hours, however there are times when our volume of question submissions prevent our volunteers from responding in that time period. We ask that you be patient if there is a delay.
• During high demand times, our volunteers may not be able to answer multiple questions. Choose your question with care.
• Finally, please remember that all the biologists that participate in Ask a Biologist are volunteers. They are also working scientists that sometimes cannot respond due to other demands on their time.