What’s the difference between questions that ask you to” Describe” and questions that ask you to”Explain”?

Describe:

State in words the main points of the topic –either phenomena or experiments

implies answer should include reference to (visual observations) associated with phenomena

 GIVE OBSERVATIONS!! WHAT CAN BE SEEN

Eg. Describe the differences between X and Y

Compare X and Y.

Note: Point-to-point comparison between X and Y is needed

Explain:

May imply reasoning or some reference to theory, depending on context

GIVE REASONS!! ANSWER THE ‘WHY”

EXPLAIN= Describe + give reasons.  Students have to quote values if a figure/ graph/table was given in the question.

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