THE TRAVELING SCIENCE CIRCUS: DEVELOPING PreK – 12 GEOSCIENCE EDUCATORS THROUGH PUBLIC OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES

As members of the university’s student chapter of the National Science Teachers Association [NSTA], undergraduate teacher candidates with a specific interest in science education have developed a public outreach group: the Traveling Science Circus. Upon request, volunteers from the NSTA chapter provide science learning activities to a variety of groups at no cost. Some examples of community groups served include Cub Scouts wishing to earn their geology merit loops and badges; preK – 12 school groups desiring additional enrichment activities while visiting the campus planetarium; and public or private school classrooms lacking materials and/or teacher expertise in specific topics such as mineral identification, the rock cycle, or the effects of earth-moon-sun geometry. The activities are planned, developed, and implemented by the undergraduates under the advisement of university faculty. Several members of the troupe have designed and constructed teaching materials which they have later used in their own classrooms. The troupe also has access to appropriate materials for demonstrations that they can borrow from the university’s collections. The Traveling Science Circus experiences provide a variety of opportunities for pre-service teacher candidates to develop and strengthen their skills in informal settings while adding to their repertoire of science lesson plans and activities.