Resource 3: Ways of handling students’ questions
| Question | Category | How to handle the question |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Why are they called caterpillars? | (b) or maybe (e) | ‘It’s the name given to this stage of their growth before they become a butterfly, but I don’t know why it has this name.’ |
| 2. Are they worms? | (b) | ‘No, although they look like worms in some ways.’ |
| 3. What do they eat? | (d) | ‘That’s something you could find out or even see as we keep them in the classroom for the lesson. Can you suggest how we can do this?’ |
| 4. Can they see me? | (d) | ‘We could try to find out. How would you do that?’ |
| 5. Will they turn into butterflies? | (b) and (d) | ‘Yes. If we keep them in the right way, you will see that for yourself.’ |
| 6. What do they feel like? | (b) but perhaps (a) | ‘It’s best not to touch them, as some of their hairs may irritate your skin. They look very soft. What do you think they feel like?’ |
| 7. How does it change into a pupa? | (c) | ‘They form a shell and then inside that they slowly change. But what happens inside is something you could find out later in your science classes.’ |
| 8. How old are they? | (b) or (d) | If known tell the students when they hatched; if not, they could look up how long they stay as caterpillars. |
| 9. Why are they so wiggly? | (a) | ‘They’re always moving, aren’t they?’ |
| 10. Why do some things turn into something else, like a tadpole into a frog? | (e) or maybe (c) | If this question is categorised as (e), this isn’t something we know or can find. |
Footnotes
(Adapted from Harlen et al., 2003)Back to previous pagePrevious
Resource 2: Flow diagram for handling students’ questions