ENGAGING, EASY TO INCORPORATE DEMONSTRATIONS FOR THE EARTH SCIENCE CLASSROOM

Pre-service teachers can acquire greater understanding of course material when traditional lectures and lesson plans are combined with interactive demonstrations. Demonstrations have the capacity to promote student interest, stimulate inquiry, and render abstract earth science concepts more concrete. The three steps in interactive demonstrations: prediction, experience, and reflection move the student beyond the role of passive observer, encouraging the student to challenge or confirm prior beliefs in light of the demonstration. The author will display a number of easy to incorporate demonstrations for weather, geology, astronomy, and hydrology.