Subject-specific stingray questions designed to turn your learners’ thinking on its head

Stingray questions pack a punch. They jolt or surprise learners.

They might turn things upside down, remove familiar assumptions, or ask learners to think from a completely different persepective.

You can use them to stimulate creative thinking, to challenge your learners, and to stretch their ability to think critically.

Here, I’ve made a set of stingray questions for most oof the subjects on the curriculum.

Below, you’ll find a set of stingray questions for each of the following:

Art
Business Studies and Economics
Computer Science
Design and Technology
Drama
English
Geography
History
Maths
Modern Foreign Languages
PE and Sport
PSHE
Religious Studies
Science

Enjoy using them with your learners!

Stingray Art Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

What is art?
Can we define art?
Can art be fully explained?
How do people make aesthetic judgements?
What does it mean for a work of art to be described as ‘good’ or ‘bad’?
On what do we base our judgements about art?
Is it possible to judge a work of art?
Of what are responses to art composed?
Is there an ultimate (discoverable) standard in aesthetics?
Is all artistic judgement culturally specific?
Can artistic judgement be learnt? If so, or if not, what might be the consequences of this?
What role does feeling play in a person’s experience of art?
Does art have to be ‘experienced’? If so, what does this mean? If not, why not?
Where does art come from?
Is all aesthetic judgement ultimately the expression of individual feeling?
Is form more important than content?
How can form and content be successfully married?
How do we know that something is art? (Can we know that something is art?)
Can art express or subvert power?
Does the deprivation of one or more senses lead to a fundamentally different conception of art?
How does art relate to reality?
Is art an extension of reality, a description of it, or a reflection of it? (Or something else entirely?)
Does a work of art require an audience for it to be a work of art? What are the consequences of this?
How do property rights affect art?
Is art an expression of an individual or is it an expression of something beyond them?
Do artists have moral responsibilities to society?
Should any society help artists to develop?
Can art express truth? If so, what is the nature of this truth?
How might art fulfil an ethical role in people’s lives?

Stingray Business Studies and Economics Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

Is self-interest a good motive?
Does the pursuit of more, be it profit, goods etc. lead to personal fulfilment?
How should wealth be distributed in society?
Should governments intervene in markets?
Why should people obey government regulations (nationally, locally and internationally)?
What is the relationship between economics and morality?
Is it right to separate moral considerations from economic ones?
Do markets exist? If yes, how might this be proved? If no, what then is being talked about?
To what extent are individuals rational?
Do people understand their own motives for acting/making decisions?
How far should property rights extend over the Earth’s resources (For example: To the atmosphere? To rainfall?)
Does custom justify property rights? If so, why? If not, what are the consequences of this?
What is the aim of economics?
How should owners of firms prioritise the interests of themselves, others and society?
Regarding businesses, what are the interests of owners, of society, of workers and of others?
Do people have the right to pursue economic opportunities as they see fit?
What justification is there for governments limiting the range of things firms and individuals can do?
Are taxes paid by consent or because of the threat of force?
How does culture affect economic behaviour and economic relationships? What are the consequences of this for discussions about economics?
Is it morally right to separate people’s economic considerations from the rest of their lives?
Does money exist, or is it just a confidence trick?
What role should the state have in an economy?
What is the relationship between money and power?
Does a strong economy need a high level of trust?
Are consumers responsible to those people involved in producing goods and services?
Is lending money morally acceptable?
Can we rely on business and economic forecasts? Why?

Stingray Computer Science Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

Should the internet be censored?
Can there be (should there be) property rights on the internet?
Can computers replicate human experience?
Could a computer ever feel or think?
Does computer science alter our understanding or interpretation of reality and experience?
Is information a useful metaphor for explaining our interaction with the world?
Is it ever right to hack into another computer?
Can the release of a computer virus be morally justified?
Should governments use computers to survey their populations?
Is technology morally neutral?
Can something generated using a computer ever match traditional standards of beauty?
Is information stored in binary code known in the same way as something stored within a person’s memory?
Does computer science undermine the power and authority of the state?
Is it right to store sensitive information in electronic form?
Does the internet exist? If so, where is it? If not, then what do we refer to when we say ‘the internet’?
What is the status of information presented to us on computers? Does it exist?
How might the development and sale of computer software influence our experience of the world?
Is there a qualitative difference between digital and analogue information? If so, what are the consequences for an individual who uses one over the other?
Is it morally justifiable to replace a person with a computer, for example, in the workplace?
Who has authority over the internet?
Should computers and associated materials be made in a sustainable fashion?
Is it morally wrong for a computer game to replicate morally evil acts?
Could robots ever be made that would be classed as humans?
Should the state ever be allowed to access private e-mails?
Some components for computers may be mined in conditions antithetical to human rights and the welfare of those involved. Do consumers have a responsibility to be aware of (and act upon) such things?
Can computer modelling give us true knowledge of the future?
What are the limits to the knowledge we can gain using computer science?

Stingray Design and Technology Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

What does it mean to describe a design as ‘good’ or ‘bad’?
How can something be a ‘good design’?
Are the properties we attribute to the same materials identical? (For example: Is my blue your blue?) If so, can this be proved?
Do designers have ethical responsibilities to society?
To what extent are designers responsible for the outcomes of their actions? (For example: The designer of propaganda)
When we say a design is ‘pleasing’, what do we mean?
Could technology ever replicate the experience of humans?
Does technology extend the experience of humans?
Should we pursue the development of new technology for its own sake, regardless of the potential results?
Can we know the effects new technology might have on us or on our society?
Is a computer like a brain?
How can we know what properties different materials have?
Does all design have to have a purpose to it?
Did God design the universe?
Is the physical world like a big machine? Why?
What does someone have to have to be called a craftsman?
Should intellectual property rights be enforced? Why and by who?
What does it mean to be creative?
Are our minds limited or changed by the technology we use?
Is technology morally neutral?
What are the limits of design?
Should design aim for practicality or aesthetic perfection?
What does it mean for something to be described as ‘useful’?
Should we attribute value to technology? Why?
Is it better to design systems for humans or to allow for organic development?
How might the craftsman’s knowledge of materials affect his understanding of the physical world?
Is it possible to design something without a purpose?
What values should the designer prioritise? Why?
Are there areas of human life where technology should not tread?

Stingray Drama Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

Does drama have a negative effect on the morality and beliefs of people who watch or participate in it?
Should a writer or director try to challenge the beliefs of the audience?
Is it right to commercialise artistic work?
Should plays be censored for younger audiences?
Is it right to set up a boundary between audience and performers?
Does drama provide us with truth? If so, what type of truth?
Is it morally justifiable to portray living people on stage? Why?
How might someone’s experience of drama affect how they think and act?
Can the use of drama for political purposes be justified?
Do actors know a character or a text? If so, what type of knowledge do they possess?
Should a skilled actor use their abilities for personal gain?
Is acting lying? If not, what is it? If so, what then does it tell us about the status of lying?
What does it mean to describe a play as ‘good’?
Does drama have a permanent set of criteria against which it is judged, or are these culturally and historically specific? Either way, what are the consequences of this for the people involved and for the dramatic works themselves?
Is drama a representation of reality? Or is it a representation of ideas in the minds of individuals (author, director, actors, audience)?
Is it ever right to trick an audience? What about tricking an actor?
Is it right to use dramatic concepts and categories when talking about things which are outside of the theatre (For example: everyday life, photographs and rituals)? Why?
Can drama reveal moral truths?
Can drama be used to obscure or suppress truth? Should it ever be used in this way?
Is it possible to neuter language so that it does not contain any drama?
How does drama affect people’s experience of reality?
Can our understanding of historical plays ever escape the contemporary concepts and categories that we have?
What do we mean when we describe a reproduction as ‘faithful’?
Can anyone successfully communicate the experience of acting?
Is drama likely to mislead? Should we teach young people how to resist it?
Does drama turn people away from reality? If so, so what? If not, why not?

Stingray English Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

Is literature a mirror to life?
What do we mean when we describe a novel or a poem as ‘good’?
Against what aesthetic standards are works of literature or poetry judged?
Can any aesthetic judgement of literature or poetry stand up to interrogation? (Can it be ultimately justified?)
Can fiction provide us with true knowledge?
What are the strengths and limitations of trying to come to terms with experience subjectively?
To what does literature or poetry refer? Is it things in the world, or things in the author’s mind?
Where are ideas? Do they persist? Do they make up the reality we experience?
Does language refer to external objects? Is this true of all language?
What determines the coherence/legitimacy of a proposition?
Why is it that certain words or phrases can compel changes in the world? (For example: Stop! Or ‘With these words I thee wed’)
Is it possible to have a private language?
Is there a logical basis to language?
What does a word such as ‘good’ or ‘game’ mean? What are the consequences for our understanding of language? What are the consequences for how we go about defining words?
How does language influence our experience and understanding of reality?
Is the reality we experience a consequence of the words we possess? Is reality an interpretation limited by the words we possess?
Should works of literature be subject to intellectual property rights? Why?
Is it wrong to use language duplicitously?
Could we ever know, definitively, if someone was using language duplicitously?
Are there ethical problems implicit in the teaching of rhetoric and persuasive language?
Should authors aim at some conception of truth? Why?
Do authors have a moral responsibility to their subject/society/posterity?
Is language an impediment to true knowledge? Is language an impediment to knowledge of God?
Can there be knowledge without (or before) language?
Is political power implicit in discourse? What are the consequences of this?
Is language neutral?
Does a society have a moral responsibility to teach its young how language can be manipulated?
Should there be censorship? On what grounds?

Stingray Geography Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

Does the world have a designer?
Can we prove how the world came to be as it is?
What can we know and prove about the physical environment?
What makes a tourist destination desirable or pleasing? Is this measurable? Is it an objective standard?
Do tourists have an ethical responsibility when choosing their holiday? What about when they use resources?
Can a holiday be ethically justified, given that many people all over the world cannot go on one?
Should people not go to countries where human rights are being abused?
Is it morally justifiable for the rich to holiday in places where there is great poverty?
To what extent does our description of the physical world affect how we interact with it?
Does geology disprove the existence of God?
Is it right to put controls on population growth?
Does the environment influence people’s experiences of reality?
What makes a landscape beautiful?
Can any description of natural beauty hold across time and in different cultures?
Does the environment have rights?
Is it right to turn the natural world into property?
Does development necessarily require an increase in individual freedom?
Should all countries try to pursue economic growth?
Do richer countries have a duty to help poorer countries? Should they hinder their own growth to help poorer countries grow quicker?
On what grounds, or using what criteria, should governments make economic decisions?
Should government economic policy be influenced by ideas of right and wrong? If so, who’s right and wrong?
What should be on a map and what should have greater prominence? How might this affect our notions of reality? How might it reflect our ethical beliefs?
If we used knowledge like an atlas – for example, by having different maps for different areas of thought or ways of thinking – what might be the consequences?
Should all land be open access? If so, why? If not, why not? And what land should be open access?
The coast is constantly eroding, and tectonic plates are forever moving. Does this mean that our maps are false? Does it mean that a perfect map could never be made?
What does the inside of a mountain feel like?

Stingray History Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

To whom does the past belong?
What can we know of the past?
What knowledge about the past can we have? How do we know that it is true knowledge?
Do historians have moral duties to society/their subject/the past?
Does the past exist? Can we prove it either way?
How might history be used for political ends? Can the past be misused? Why?
What does it mean to say history has been misused? What might this tell us about our conceptions of truth?
What is the relationship between history and myth? How does this show itself in our understanding of the world?
Can the past be used for moral training in the present? Should it be used in this way?
Does history have a purpose? Is history a moral problem?
Is history art or science? Is it sui generis?
Is all description interpretation? If not, can this be proved? If yes, what are the consequences for studying history?
Does history privilege certain groups? If so, what are the political and ethical consequences of this?
Do ideas remain the same over time, or are they forever tied to a particular period?
What should be memorialised? Why? Who should decide?
Do individuals have an obligation to find out about the past before they speak about it?
Can history ever be definitive? Why? What are the consequences of your answer for our ideas about truth?
How might we judge the ‘truth’ of a source?
Is there a ‘proper’ way to study the past? What might be the ethical and political implications of this?
Is it right to claim the past for the purposes of the present?
Should certain aspects of the past be suppressed for ‘the greater good’?
Do political systems rely on a narrative of origins/progress for legitimacy?
Can tradition be used as a justification?
Is history a unified flow of experience? Is there a distinct, knowable, ‘past reality’?
Does historical explanation tell us about the truth of the past? Can there be a true representation of the past?
Can the past be used to legitimise actions? If so, can it be used to legitimise anything that has been done? Why?
Do different types of history make different types of knowledge available to us?
How might the historian’s own concepts and categories order or influence their descriptions and interpretations of the past?
When writing history, should historians question whether the choices they are making are right or wrong?
Is there cause and effect in history? Can this be proven either way?

Stingray Maths Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

To what does zero refer?
Can ‘nothing’ exist?
Can mathematical laws be known independently of experience?
Is it just to abstract people into numbers?
Does society have a duty to teach people about the validity and reliability of statistics?
Can any statistical measure claim to be objective?
Given the limitations of our knowledge of the world, can any statistic be said to be reliable and/or valid?
Is it right to manipulate statistics to support an argument? How would you define manipulation?
Do numbers refer to things, ideas, relations or something else?
How far can we use logic to describe the world?
Does the division of things into equal parts suggest an idea of justice which is independent of human thought?
How might thinking in binary influence someone’s conception of the world?
Should mathematics, and logic, be seen as a higher form of knowledge?
Are mathematics and logic privileged above other types of knowledge by virtue of their perfectibility?
Can ‘pure mathematics’ be justified as a good use of a person’s time and resources?
Are all things measurable? What is the consequence of this for our views of measurement?
How might mathematics (for example measurement and abstraction) be used for political purposes?
Should politicians and administrators be allowed to treat individuals as things (through the use of numbers and abstraction)?
Many mathematical truths appear to hold for all time. What consequences might this have for our descriptions of reality? What about for the validity of our perceptions?
Is it desirable for everybody in a society to study maths? Why?
Do mathematical truths prove the existence of God or a creator?
What makes a sequence, progression, equation and so on aesthetically pleasing?
Is mathematical knowledge politically and ethically neutral?
To what does infinity refer?
Are there different types of infinity?
If infinity and zero cannot be demonstrated empirically, what might be the consequences for our understanding of reality?
How much of maths is imaginary? Does this matter?

Stingray Modern Foreign Languages Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

Does language influence a person’s conception of the world?
How might being multilingual affect a person’s understanding of reality (or, of language)?
Is a translator responsible for being truthful?
Should governments enforce the learning of foreign languages?
If so, is it right to do this for certain reasons – for example, to decrease xenophobic sentiment, or to improve the country’s trade position?
Can a translation ever convey the true meaning of the original?
If someone learns a foreign language, is their understanding limited by their own culture or upbringing?
Is it right to divorce the learning of a language from the culture in which that language developed?
Do different languages represent qualitatively different experiences of reality?
Are the cultures in which languages exist knowable by those who are outside?
What do we mean when we use the word ‘language’?
Can a concept or idea present in one language but not in another be translated?
Should learners be taught how rhetoric and persuasion work in the language they are learning?
Is it justifiable to trick students to help them learn a new language?
How does political power manifest itself in language? (For example: What type of language is learnt? e.g. the ‘Queen’s English’)
Do language teachers have a responsibility to the country whose language they teach?
Would it be justifiable for a translator to deceive one party if they believed it was for a greater good?
Can we know what we claim to know in our language, in another language? Would it be possible to prove this?
Can we prove that two individuals communicating through translation know what it is they are speaking about?
Are any aspects of language untranslatable? If so, what might be the consequences of this (particularly for the status of knowledge)?
Is language a technology? If so, what influence does it have on people’s perceptions of the world?
How do orality and literacy differ? Do they offer us qualitatively different ways of knowing about the world?
Can someone come to know standards of taste or judgement through the learning of a language?
Should there be any moral or political considerations when deciding what learners are to be taught about a new language?
Is learning a dead language a waste of time?
Can the preservation of a language through making it a compulsory subject be justified?
What is the purpose of schoolchildren learning foreign languages?

Stingray PE and Sport Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

Is it justifiable to cheat to gain an advantage for yourself or for your team?
What is a ‘game’?
What do we mean when we use the word ‘cheat’?
Do we have an ethical obligation to look after our bodies?
What is the nature of a sportsperson’s knowledge about their sport? Can it be conveyed?
To what does the notion of ‘flow’ refer? (As in, being in the flow)
Why is one pass, shot, save and so on described as good, but another not?
On what grounds are some sporting actions or pieces of play defined as aesthetically pleasing?
Can someone possess physical knowledge (before or beyond language)? If so, can we prove they possess this? If not, what then is the knowledge that sportspeople possess?
Is it useful to think of the body as a machine? Why? What might be the consequences of this view?
Is mechanism a useful metaphor for describing the body? Why? What might be the consequences of this view?
What are the benefits and limitations of employing science to know about sport?
How should responsibility be divided up in a team?
How should blame and praise be distributed in a team?
Is competition problematic when it becomes a part of teaching and learning?
Should sport be valued by society? Why, and to what ends?
Can any referee or umpire be truly objective?
How do reason and emotion manifest themselves in the thinking and motivations of sportspeople?
Should an individual athlete submit to the authority of a coach?
Should sportspeople submit to the authority of an umpire or referee? Why? What is the justification?
Does physical fitness need to have an end, or can it be an end in itself?
How much should someone be willing to sacrifice for the good of the team? What about for the possibility of future success?
What role should the government play in the funding and governance of sport? Why?
What justification is there for following the rules of a sport or a game?
Could performance-enhancing drug-taking ever be justified?
If an athlete took performance-enhancing drugs but was never discovered, is there a problem?
Should sports that involve physical violence to other humans (or animals) be allowed?
Is winning more important than anything else?

Stingray Personal, Social and Health (PSHE) Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

What is an individual?
Do we possess a unified self?
Do we change over time or in different situations? What are the consequences of this for our knowledge of our self and other people’s experience of us?
What is the right thing to do?
Should you be consistent in matters of morality? Why?
What do we mean when we use the word ‘healthy’?
Do we have jurisdiction over our own bodies?
To what extent should individuals be allowed to decide matters concerning themselves? (For example: abortion, euthanasia and suicide)
Do we have a duty towards others?
Is self-interest a legitimate way to make decisions?
When we speak of self-interest, what do we mean? Is it happiness, pleasure, virtue or something else?
Do we have a responsibility towards our bodies?
Is any area of life exempt from politics? Is the personal political?
Does the state have an obligation to involve itself in private matters?
Should individuals be left alone by the state? Why and to what extent?
What do we mean when we describe something as ‘private’?
What is love?
What should the state provide in terms of public health? Should contraception, sanitary towels, dementia care and so on be provided for free?
Can any moral position be ultimately justified? Why?
Why do people act as they do? What aims, motivations, reasons and desires cause behaviour? Can behaviour be adequately explained by the notion of cause and effect?
How might someone’s upbringing, education, social position and so on affect their understanding and interpretation of the world?
Can we have knowledge of ourselves? If so, how?
Can we share knowledge of ourselves with other people?

Stingray Religious Studies Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

Does God exist?
Can we prove the existence, or non-existence of God?
Is the universe designed? Does the universe have a creator? Can this be proved?
Do miracles prove the existence of God?
Why should anyone follow the rules of a religion?
What do we mean when we use the term ‘religion’?
Is there a meaning to life? Does life or the universe have a purpose? What might be the consequences of answering these questions?
Is revelation a form of knowledge?
Can God be known?
What justification is there for faith?
Does science undermine the legitimacy of religious thought or knowledge?
Could someone use religious rules as guidance in every situation they face?
Do humans have free will?
Should humans exercise their free will if it is against the word or laws of God? If the answer is no, can humans be said to have free will? If the answer is yes, can God be said to be all-powerful?
Why is there evil in the world? (If God is all-powerful and all-good, then why does evil exist?)
What is the nature of God?
What is the right thing to do?
Does revelation, faith or God offer a legitimate basis, an ultimate foundation, for ethical judgements?
Should religion be a part of politics?
Do religious believers have duties towards others? If so, what are these duties and what justifies them?
Should religious believers involve themselves in politics?
How might religious belief influence someone’s understanding or beliefs about physical reality?
Does heaven exist? Can this be proven?
What is the nature of religious knowledge?
Should religious belief be tolerated in a secular society? Should any religions be banned?
Can any society be said to be truly secular?

Stingray Science Questions to Stretch and Challenge Your Learners’ Thinking

What is the nature of scientific knowledge?
Can induction provide us with ultimate laws?
Does science occupy a privileged position in society? If so, what might be the consequences of this?
What are the limitations of scientific explanation?
Can the model of mathematics, and by extension physics, be applied throughout science? If yes, with what justification? If no, what are the consequences for scientific ways of knowing?
Is any area of science a more powerful explanation of the natural world than any other? (For example: Is physics a better way of knowing than chemistry?) Why?
What can we know about the physical world and how is this knowledge justified?
Bearing in mind the history of scientific revolutions, should we treat all scientific knowledge as provisional?
How do quantitative and qualitative ways of knowing differ?
Does science disprove the existence of God?
Darwin’s theory of evolution is not definitively proven. Does this mean we should teach other theories alongside it?
Are scientists responsible for the effects of their discoveries?
Should scientists consider the ethical implications of what they do?
Is it ethically justifiable for scientists to take employment with companies who will not disclose how they will use research discoveries?
Is scientific description interpretation? (For example: Are words like ‘atom’ and ‘gene’ actually metaphors?)
Can anything be completely objective?
What ethical issues might there be if we privilege objective over subjective knowledge?
How do scientific concepts and categories affect our language?
Do humans have free will, or are our actions determined?
What is the relationship between cause and effect? Can such a relationship be proven?
Can we rely on the information we receive through our senses?
Can it be proven that materials have properties (or even exist!) independent of observation?
Is it better to produce a seemingly effective theory that discounts anomalies or to scrupulously collate all possible data?
Can science lead humans to knowledge of everything there is to know?
How do the concepts and categories of science affect how we think?