French language Q&A Forum

"Qu'est-ce que c'est?" (what is that?) is one of the first things a beginner in French learns. Now that I am moving from A2 to B1, I learned that "Qu'est-ce que..." is the question form to use when the "what" is the object of the sentence. I think the verb "to be" is throwing me off. Could someone explain to me how "what" is the object of the sentence in question like "what is that?" 

In a recent fill in the blank test, it asked for “pencil”. I’ve always been taught that it is “crayon “, but the test required “crayon [à ]. papier” ( sorry, my memory fails me about the à part ).  When did crayon become insufficient?   It was probably one of the first French words I learned! 

When comparing my answer with Kwizbot's (around Question 9):

Kwizbot: Ajoutez-y quelques CUILLERS de crème

Me: Ajoutez y quelques CUILLÈRES de crème

Kwizbot spells cuillères correctly in the answer box but incorrectly in the comparison box.

Hope this makes sense