Sequence | Background | Objectives | Materials | Activity | Evaluations

TOPIC-TITLE Careers Lessons 1 - What Do These People Know That I Don't Know? AUTHOR STARBORD GRADE SUITABILITY High School SCOPE Appropriate for all science classes and especially for an integrated curriculum

Sequence This is the first in a series of six lessons on careers in the field of oceanography. The lessons would not necessarily have to be done as part of a unit of study on oceanography, marine science, marine biology, etc., but they would certainly be more meaningful to the students if they were integrated into the teaching of the academic content material. < < go top

Background Summary The COAST Careers module contains videotaped interviews with actual practitioners in several fields related to oceanography. These interviews are intended to put a face with a name as well as a career in order to let the students see "real" people involved in these careers. In using the interviews in a classroom, teachers can point out the diverse nature of the careers related to oceanography as well as the diverse nature of the demographic information related to the practitioners themselves. These men and women come from different backgrounds, are different ages, and have different career interests, yet they all have found a place of work within the broad field of oceanography. < < go top Objectives At the end of this series of lessons, students will be able to: Identify the differences between a job and a career Identify career areas within the broad field of oceanography Explain the commonalties and differences between the various careers in the field of oceanography Demonstrate a knowledge of how these various careers relate to each other Locate information on the World Wide Web related to a specific career field Recognize the necessary educational foundation needed for a specific career field Compare and contrast the requirements needed to become a practitioner of various oceanographic career fields Determine the high school course selections that would be most beneficial for someone planning a career in oceanography Create as part of a group a computer-based project relating to an oceanographic career < < go top Materials Access to computers and the Internet QuickTime plug-in for viewing the COAST Web site Dictionaries Spreadsheet software Presentation software (e.g., PowerPoint, HyperStudio) < < go top Activity Using the definitions from Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10th edition) listed below or those found in other dictionaries, discuss the differences in the meanings of these work-related terms. career-"3. a field for or pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement esp. in public, professional, or business life; 4. A profession for which one trains and which is undertaken as a permanent calling" job-"3.b. a specific duty, role, or function" occupation-1. b. "The principal business of one's life: vocation." profession-4.a. "a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation" vocation-2.a. "the work in which a person is regularly employed: occupation As a class go over the six different career areas discussed in the Careers Section of the COAST web site [http://coast-nopp.org]. Discuss why these background descriptions are called career areas as opposed to jobs. Look at the questions asked of those people who are interviewed. Using the questions listed as a guide, brainstorm and create a list of headings for a spreadsheet such as "Job Title," "Job Tasks," "Origin of Interest," "Typical Day," "Suggestions for Students," etc. Use computer software such as Inspiration™ or the outline feature in PowerPoint to graphically display the ideas as they are presented. Such software will allow for quick reorganization of the topics when the class has completed the list. Divide the class into five or six groups. Assign each group some of the interviews from the COAST careers section to review. If possible, ask each group to create an individual spreadsheet using a computer software package such as Excel. If it is not possible for each group to develop its own spreadsheet, create one form using the class's heading suggestions and print out pages for each group to use for recording its findings. Ask the groups to listen to the videotaped comments made by those interviewed and list the information given in the correct column on the spreadsheet. Point out that because questions vary from one interview to the next, some cells will probably remain blank. Tell the groups to be prepared to share one or two of the videotaped answers that they found especially meaningful or interesting with the class. When all groups have completed their tasks, ask them to report their findings to the entire class. Discuss commonalties found among the answers given by the people in the interviews. Some questions to consider are: Did all of these people know at an early age what they wanted to do as adults? Did teachers influence their career choices in any way? Did those people interviewed stress learning any particular academic subjects in preparation for their chosen career? Do they routinely do the same thing every day? If their answer is no, do they see this as a "plus" or a "minus"? Ask the students to write a paragraph or more telling what career choice sounded most appealing to them and why. Ask the students if they have learned something in their science classes that relates to this particular career choice? < < go top Teacher Evaluation Assess individual class member's contributions to the class discussion. Use a rubric to assess each student's ability to work collaboratively. For an example collaboration rubric, visit the EdWeb Web site: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/triton/tidepoolunit/Rubrics/collrubric.html [We need to hyperlink this.] Many of the activities for these career lessons can best be evaluated through the use of rubrics. Assess the information compiled for the spreadsheet by each group for accuracy and thoroughness. Evaluate the students' career-choice paragraphs for originality, content, and neatness. Paragraphs should reflect an understanding of the class discussions and the taped interviews. < < go top