Aha!! A Moment to Remember!!

This article gives examples of several easy to do discrepant events that get students to thinking about and questioning what is happening. Discrepant events get students interest quickly an... See More

This article gives examples of several easy to do discrepant events that get students to thinking about and questioning what is happening. Discrepant events get students interest quickly and can lead to a lot of scientific questioning and answering. Demonstrations of this type make science exciting for students and draw their attention to science concepts.

The How, What and Why for Demos

This article uses demonstrations about the properties of air and other matter in the gaseous state. The author, Richard Black, shows what kinds of questions to ask students that will elici... See More

This article uses demonstrations about the properties of air and other matter in the gaseous state. The author, Richard Black, shows what kinds of questions to ask students that will elicit responses to reveal students’ thinking. It is not always easier to come up with different kinds of questions that will intellectually challenge our students at the same time as when the demonstration is serving as an attention grabber. By encouraging active observations and by eliciting predictions and hypotheses, students are filed with a sense of wonder as they constructively think about what is occurring. The author models a few demonstrations teachers can begin with in order to practice their questions skills. The demonstrations chosen can be used for any of the elementary grades.