Sequence | Background | Objectives | Materials | Activity | Evaluations

TOPIC-TITLE Careers Lessons 4 - Oceanography-Related Careers: To Be or Not to Be. . . AUTHOR STARBORD GRADE SUITABILITY High School SCOPE Appropriate for all science classes and especially for an integrated curriculum

Sequence This is the fourth in a series of six 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 More and more people are finding out about jobs on the World Wide Web. Divide the students into groups to select one of the people interviewed in the COAST Careers section. Using web searches through such places as Yahoo, AltaVista, or Monster.com, find jobs for which this person is qualified. The Bureau of Labor Statistics web site [http://www.bls.gov/emphome.htm] gives employment projections and has the Occupational Outlook Handbook online. Students can use these pages to check the general outlook for specific occupations including the nature of the work, job outlook, and projected earnings. Using a spreadsheet, each group should gather and record data about the available jobs in the person's field. Consider such things as academic degree required, years' experience, location of the employer, salary, and any other information the students feel it is important to note. Tell them to look up any terminology they do not understand in the job description. When the students have collected data on several positions, ask them to decide if the person should accept one of these positions or not. Have the students visit web sites such as http://allapartments.com or http://movingcalculator.com and use the salary calculator to determine what the cost of living is in the area where this person would be living. Students should provide a written justification in which they explain why they think this particular person should or should not make a career move and accept the position that they have found online. The students' reasoning should be based in large part on the information the person has told about him/herself in the interview video clips. Have the students turn in the written narrative along with a spreadsheet of facts upon which their decision has been based. Each student should write at least one letter to a company that is offering a job and either accept or decline the job and give reasons why. Letters should be clear and concise and business-like in nature. If the students have had little or no training in business letter writing, much can be gained by discussing their efforts as a class, pointing out the differences between what is said in a business letter and what is said in a friendly letter. < < go top Teacher Evaluation 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 . Many of the activities for these career lessons can best be evaluated through the use of rubrics. Assess each group's project by its ability to recognize the connection between the educational background/skills of the person and the available job, the spoken interest of the person, and the economic factors that might influence the choice of a job. Have each group present its findings and its decision before the entire class. The Rochester City School District Rubric for Oral Presentation [http://www.servtech.com/~germaine/rubric.html ] may be of help in assessing these presentations. Evaluate the elements of formatting, writing style, content, neatness, and tact used in the business letters written by the students. < < go top