The rose detective—a strategy to train pupils in reading bio-technical texts

Many science educators want their pupils to be able to read, as adults, articles in professional or hobby publications, in spite of the technical terms and style which are typical for this kind of literature. Pupils find it difficult to read these texts and often are unmotivated. The rationale and case history of an attempt to overcome these difficulties are described. Before reading the bio-technical text, pupils read a story in which the same biological and technical terms were used, but in a more familiar context and in a style which was apt to create empathy with the characters in the story and motivation to read the bio-technical description. A device to enable teachers to check if pupils mastered the task was built in.