# Another teacher’s experience

Susan was going to teach a Grade 7 class about insects. When she had taught the topic last year, she had relied primarily on the textbook. She found the students were quite interested in the topic. Insects existed all around them and it had been possible to draw on their knowledge in discussions of the topic. But this year Susan thought she could do better and wanted to make the lesson more interactive.

She decided to plan the opening of the topic around three things. She wanted to:

- arouse the students’ curiosity;
- find out in more detail what they already knew; and
- tell the students what they would cover in the two weeks they would be studying the topic.

To arouse curiosity, she remembered a science fiction story that had been made into a film. In the story, the Sun had one day turned a shade of mauve. During this day, the Sun’s rays had shone down on all the insects of the world and made them grow much bigger, bigger than humans. She decided she would tell this story, remind the students how many insects there were in the world and then ask them to imagine what the world would be like if this really happened. The main aim of this would be to help the students think about just how many insects there were and how many different species there were. The students would have to use their imaginations in thinking what a world with enormous insects would look like. The students thoroughly enjoyed sharing their ideas of a world of such large insects!

Next, Susan tried to find out what the students already knew about insects. To do this, she asked them to work in pairs. They had to think about and write down everything they knew about insects on a piece of paper. These ideas were then shared with the whole class.

Sawsan was pleased at what the students already knew and used this to plan the next sessions in more detail so that they became familiar with local insects and the general characteristics of insects.

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