Pattimura Elementary Library: Plan

Brainstorming or Mind Mapping are two ways of helping to develop a question.

To brainstorm:

• Jot down all your ideas about the topic
• Organise your information into categories
• Think about what you already know and where your areas of interests are
• Use this to choose the direction of your research

To create a mind map:

• Put the main idea or topic in the centre
• Create branches for each category or idea (see image, right)
• Include pictures as you go

Skinny Questions:

• Are about basic facts
• Will get you a one or two word answer

Fat Questions:

• Take a lot of information to answer
• Explain why or how
• Make connections, predictions, or comparisons

Exploratory Questions (also known as concept questions):

• To gain understanding of a new topic
• Typically begin with "What"

Descriptive Questions:

• Presents a picture of a specific situation
• Typically begin with "How" or "Who"

Explanatory Questions:

• Build upon exploratory and descriptive research questions
• Gives reasons for why things occur

Cause & Effect Questions:

• Explains the relationship between two events