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My online tutoring job has been an interesting roller coaster. I thought I would share some of the questions that students log in and ask me. This job can be funny at times and stressful at others, but I sure am learning a lot about science!
what will happen if I soak the potatoe in an acidic solution? This was the first question I ever had and I was nervous enough as it was. I didn’t know the answer and thought I was doomed to be fired on my first session.
I need a recording of a cockatiel on a wave file that is no more than 4 seconds long I happen to be working as I’m writing this post and this was the question I just got!
Where did the light kernels in corn come from? What really matters is do they taste any different?
I need to buy snails can u look on lione wher I can fin snails? Check your backyard.
The water droplets collect around ____________ and form ______________. I had the hardest time with this question and never did find the answer for the student. My mentor informed me that it’s dust particles and clouds. Simple enough, huh?
i need the caterpillalr. me tacher wants me to label catepillarer.
who uses soll maps? No such thing exists.
can you explain background radiation to me? Uh, I had no idea.
How do babies form? I’ll be darned if I know. I had another similar question but it’s X-rated so I won’t say it.
if there is a sanddbar on a river , how will the sandbar affect boat travel It may make boat travel slightly difficult….
Why does an icecube feel cold when you put it in your hand? Does it really matter?
How can you distinguish a clastic (fragmental) sedimentary rock from a chemically formed sedimentary rock? I hate rock questions….they are my least favorites! I’d like to start a petition to have the topic removed from textbooks!!!!
if a curve with a radius of 65m is properly banked for a car traveling 75 km/hr, what must the coefficient of friction be for a car not to skid when traveling at 90 km/hr. No idea, next!
As an object moves away from earth, the ___________ the red shift, indicating the rate of expansion is ________________. Still no idea, next!
How quickly can tornadoes wind rotate? 318 mph was recorded on May 3, 1999.
ok here I go: newton’s doctor says that he has to drink 4 oz. of water but there are no measuring cups besides a 3 oz and 5 oz. cup and it says that he took one cup and filled it up to its capacity and then…..? but ikd what comes next. This was tricky but the answer was to fill up the 3 and dump it into the 5 and then fill up the 3 again and dump whatever can fit into the 5. That will leave you with 1 in the 3 oz. cup. Then you dump the 5 oz. cup and put the one ounce in there and fill up the 3 again and dump it in the 5 oz cup again and that will give you 4 oz. But this kid was only in 6th grade and just didn’t get it! Bless hit heart.
I could go on and on but I won’t bore you. Hopefully this gives you a little taste of my professional life and you better understand why I am the way I am lately. Between this, seminary, and Sadie I am bound to end up in a mental institution!
chante - I wasn’t bored; I was astounded. Those are some truly interesting questions. And I wouldn’t have been able to answer any of them! So what do you do when you get X-rated questions???
Joe - You can just tell kids that you don’t have an answer? Do they ask you all their homework questions that they can’t figure out?
Alicia - When we get x-rated questions we just explain our policy, which is that we don’t discuss those types of topics. If the kids get out of hand we just end that session.
We can tell them we don’t know the answer. Obviously if we don’t know too many questions they consider us unqualified to tutor in that area and we would be removed from that subject area. I only don’t know (or can’t figure out) 2 – 5% of the questions I get. I just listed my memorable sessions that I struggled with 🙂