New to cameras and bought a lens and now have lots of questions

[wfooshee]

Well, it looks like the page I called up was for the "II" version of this lens. The version you have does not have a built-in focus motor and thus will not auto-focus on D3000-series, D5000-series, or the D40 and D60 bodies.

I would say sell the lens and look for the II version, which will work for you. Unfortunately, you're not going to find one for 300 bucks.....

Sigma and Tamron have offerings in ultra-wide zooms as well, as does Nikon, but none of these are "budget" lenses.