The demonstration-moment script.

The demonstration is the part of the course that cannot be faked, outsourced, or generated. A student stands in front of you and shows understanding in real time, against a rubric, out loud. Your job is to run it the same way every time: a setup that makes faking impossible, a question ladder that probes past rehearsal, and a clean binary verdict recorded against the rubric.

The three rules that govern every demonstration

1. The student does the work; you only ask. No coaching, no leading questions, no "are you sure?" that signals the answer. You probe understanding — you never supply it.
2. The verdict is binary. Mastered or not yet. You are not assigning a score in the room; you are deciding whether the published rubric's bar was cleared.
3. A "not yet" is a checkpoint, not a failure. How you deliver it determines whether the student comes back. Name the specific gap, give the re-attempt path, and keep the door open.

Demonstration 1 — Mineral & rock ID defense

Scored against the mineral & rock ID defense rubric · after Unit 02.

Setup. The student is handed a set of unknown specimens and identifies each one on their own — their hand lens, their streak plate, their hardness kit, their acid dropper. You name nothing; they run the streak, scratch for hardness, read the luster and the cleavage, drop dilute acid for the carbonate fizz, and name the specimen out loud while you watch their hands and listen to their reasoning. Because it's their tests and their call, there is nothing to outsource.

The question ladder:

• Observe: "Run your tests on this specimen and tell me exactly what you see." (Can they get a clean streak, a defensible hardness, an honest read of luster and cleavage?)
• Identify: "What is it, and which tests told you?" (Do they reason from streak, hardness, luster, cleavage, and the acid test to the name — not from a memorized list?)
• Discriminate: "How do you know it isn't the look-alike that shares that luster?" (The recurring confusion pair — calcite versus quartz, pyrite versus gold — this is where a shaky student reveals themselves.)
• Counterfactual: "If your streak had come out white instead of that colour, how would your ID change and why?" (This is the rehearsal-proof rung — a memorized answer dies here.)

Demonstration 2 — Timed map interpretation

Scored against the timed map interpretation rubric · after Units 03–04.

Setup. Under a time limit, the student reads an unfamiliar map — a topographic, geologic, or weather map — or triangulates an earthquake's epicenter from a set of seismograms, and justifies each reading out loud. The clock is the integrity mechanism: there is no time to look anything up, and the skill of reading contour lines, a geologic cross-section, or three P–S arrival gaps honestly can't be generated.

The question ladder:

• Read & observe: "Read the map (or the seismograms) and tell me exactly what you see." (The skill itself — contour spacing, map symbols, arrival times.)
• Interpret: "What does that pattern mean, and which feature on the map told you?" (Can they turn contour spacing into slope, a symbol into a rock unit, three arrival gaps into a location — from the evidence in front of them, not a memorized example?)
• Discriminate: "How do you know it isn't the reading that looks similar?" (A steep slope versus a cliff, a fold versus a fault, an epicenter circle drawn one step too wide — this is where a shaky student reveals themselves.)

Demonstration 3 — Oral lab-notebook defense

Scored against the lab-notebook-defense rubric · end of each unit.

Setup. The student walks you through their own notebook: the question, the method, the data, the anomalies, the interpretation. Because it is their recorded work, the defense is unfakeable — a student who didn't do the thinking can't narrate the decisions behind it.

The question ladder:

• Narrate: "Walk me through what you did and why." (Does the story hold together?)
• Anomaly: "This data point doesn't fit — what happened?" (Did they notice, and can they reason about it honestly rather than hide it?)
• Method critique: "What would you change if you ran it again?" (Do they understand the method's limits and sources of error?)
• Transfer: "How does this connect to the concept from this unit?" (Integration — scored on its own line.)

Reading the room: mastered vs. approaching

Recording the verdict

Mark the rubric in the room while it's fresh — pass or not-yet on each rubric line, with a one-line note on the deciding moment. If the verdict is "not yet," that note becomes the re-attempt instruction. Do not soften the rubric to avoid an awkward conversation; soften the delivery instead.

Delivering a "not yet" so the re-attempt stays likely

• Lead with what was solid before naming the gap — the student needs to know the work wasn't wasted.
• Name one specific thing to close, not a list. ("The counterfactual on the hardness call — come back when you can reason through how a wrong streak or hardness reading would change your ID.")
• Give the date and the path. A "not yet" with a re-attempt slot on the calendar is a checkpoint; a "not yet" with no path is a wall.